Titans Forever
by Hitotsune-Kozo
Summary: The first in a new series, this story will be about a new generation of Teen Titans. A new threat is coming, from a distant region of space, seeking to destroy the one that stopped their people long, long ago. Rated M, Original Characters.
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for later chapters.

**DISCLAIMER II:** I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself.

**Author's Note:** This story is a direct sequel to **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**, and will revolve mainly around a new team of Teen Titans consisting of the previously mentioned characters. I apologize in advance; this chapter is meant to be a recap for those who read **NIHTL**, or a summary for those who haven't. Though I really recommend you read **NIHTL** first.

**Titans Forever**

**Prologue - What Came Before**

Recap

_Eighteen years ago, a blue-feeling Jinx followed a depressed Raven into a cafe with the hope of lifting the other girl's spirit. There, Jinx revealed a side of herself that no one had previously seen and the two formed a fast friendship. Because of Jinx's promise and desire to not judge Raven, the dark-powered Titan's mood began improving. She began shocking her friends by talking to them after staying virtually silent and distant since the death of her first love, Terra. Eventually, Raven and Jinx began officially dating each other, and Raven spirit lifted even further._

_When she told the rest of the Teen Titans about her new girlfriend, Robin welcomed her to the team and approved of their relationship, as it was obviously making Raven happy. Jinx proved to be a valuable member of the team, and was made the team's sixth member. She and Raven were a natural team, of course, combining the latter's dark powers and teleportation abilities with the former's 'bad luck' powers._

_But, alas, the happiness they had would be short-lived._

_A dark entity moved against Raven, seeking to punish her for a past defeat. This entity infiltrated her dreams, turning them into nightmares, via her subconscious. This was compounded in the real world by the efforts of a specially chosen band of super villains, who committed crimes that seemed to belong to some devastating plan. Patience was the key for this plan against the goth-like Titan to succeed. And it was succeeding. Raven began withdrawing from her friends once more, but she was also drawing away from her beloved Jinx. Though she had first told the hex-powered girl about her nightmares, this began to change until Raven no longer spoke about them, claiming they were unimportant. These actions were precisely what her hidden enemy was wanting to happen._

_Things came to a head when the New Titans (the new name for the Teen Titans to reflect their maturity) went to stop a H.I.V.E. attack on an important technological research and development center. There, Raven and Jinx had a minor argument that would be a precursor to what was to come. Once inside the facility, Raven became seperated from the team and found her way to its primary technological research room and encountered Brother Blood. The master of the H.I.V.E. then unveiled the true plan to her, but refused to name the one truly responsible for it all. This proved to be Raven's breaking point, for she succumbed to her demon-corrupted anger and unleashed her powers against Blood - without restraint. When her friends finally reached her, they found her glorying in the middle of a blood-drenched room - with what remained of the corpse of Brother Blood held up in her hand._

_As a precaution, Cyborg had created a tranquilizer compound months ago that was specifically targeted against Raven's blood. Knocking her out with it, the cyberized Titan had then proceeded to wipe out the security footage for that one room. Her actions had stunned and sickened them, but they still considered her their friend. Except for one. When Jinx tried to talk to Raven about everything that had suddenly come up between them, it turned into an argument that rapidly devolved into a shouting match - that ended when Raven snapped and slammed Jinx almost through a wall with a burst of dark energy. She got her once-beloved to the infirmary, then retreated to her room. When Jinx recovered fully a few days later, she left the Tower and the New Titans behind._

_That's when everyone realized Raven had vanished, as well._

_During the next six months, both Jinx and Raven were very busy. Jinx went back to her H.I.V.E. Five ways, searching for meta-humans to build her a new team. Raven, meanwhile, had learned that her father, Trigon, was the one behind everything that had happened to her. Though the blame was his, she knew that the responsibility was hers. It took her a while, but she managed to get into the dimension to which her father had been banished. Their confrontation, had anyone been there to witness it, would have seemed like the death of the universe was at hand. In the end, Raven left Trigon in only slightly better shape than she had Blood. She knew that he hadn't been permanently stopped, only delayed for quite some time as he recovered from her assault and rebuilt his energies. Her final words to him were, "Remember that when you play with a tiger's tail, there are teeth and claws on the other end." Afterwards, she spent the next four months getting to know herself. Her weakness, she had realized, was her need for control. She had believed that in order to control her powers, she had to maintain complete control over her emotions, since her powers were tied to her emotions. The successful manipulation of her had made her realize that this was, in fact, her weakness. Meditating on the problem, and meeting wisemen from across the world, she came to the realization that what she needed to do was embrace her emotions, not repress them. Control would still be necessary, but no more so than anyone else now. This newfound confidence in her abilities was tempered by the knowledge of what she had done to the one woman who meant everything and more to her._

_During Raven's sojourns, Jinx was busy returning to her evil ways. While assembling her new H.I.V.E. Five team, she committed many acts of theft, though not one innocent bystander was hurt, nor was anyone who opposed her killed. While a villain, she refused to become like Raven and murder anyone. Though her physical wounds had long-since healed, the emotional wounds she had suffered had merely scarred over, leaving her with a burning hatred and unbearable pain towards her former love. She vowed that she would make Raven suffer as she had suffered. Six months after Raven's return, the two came face-to-face once more._

_Their fight was as once-sided as had been expected. However, it was Jinx that held the upper hand, not Raven, even though the latter was more powerful than the former. Raven refused to fight the woman she still loved, and allowed herself to become badly injured. It was then that Jinx realized that, in spite of all the pain she had suffered, she still loved Raven. Jinx and the New Titans managed to get Raven to Titan Tower in time to stablize her, but her injuries were severe. Too severe, in fact, for her to survive long enough for them to heal. Everyone did all they could, but it did not seem to be enough. At Raven's request, Jinx went to be with her. There, it came out that Raven lacked the energy to heal herself and live, while Jinx lacked the skill and power to be a healer._

_So Jinx offered Raven her energy._

_The other Titans only became aware of what was going on after it was too late to stop it; by the time they managed to break into the mysteriously sealed infirmary, both Raven and Jinx had vanished - as if they had never been. Then began a global search for the two young women that would end in failure._

_During this doomed search, Bumblebee of Titans East teamed up with the New Titans and ended up marrying Cyborg; they would have a son they would name Stinger. Robin, having been going by Nightwing since the Teen Titans turned into the New Titans, finally married Starfire, and the two had a daughter named Nightfire. Beast Boy, going by Changling for the same length of time, met a young woman his age, going by the name of Lavender, in the jungles of South America. He helped her fight off a corporation that was illegally harvesting the rare trees of the rain forest. The two fell in love, though he would never eat meat and she absolutely despised tofu. But they had enough common and overlapping interests that they were able to overcome - or at least tolerate - that tidbit about the other. They would have a son named Phase._

_After three years of non-stop searching, everyone just gave up, assuming the two were dead. The New Titans disbanded, though Cyborg, Bumblebee, and Stinger would remain at Titan Tower as the protectors of Jump City. Nightwing moved to New Gotham to become its protector, with Starfire and Nightfire coming with him. Changling, Lavender, and Phase would return to Lavender's adopted home of South America and become the guardians of the rain forests and jungles. Though now scattered, the six nevertheless kept in touch, holding a reunion each year on the date that Raven and Jinx vanished._

_However, six months before the tenth anniversary reunion, Cyborg received a shock: a call from Raven on a communicator that was roughly ten years out-of-date. After recovering from his shock, he had a long conversation with her and Jinx - and their daughter, Shadow. He agreed to keep their survival a secret, so they could surprise the others at the anniversary reunion._

_And it was a wonderful surprise for them, indeed. Neither could explain what had happened that day; only that there had been an intense flash of indescribable light and energy one moment, and the next they were outside a monastery of some kind - and Raven was a few months pregnant. Genetic tests conducted by Cyborg confirmed that Shadow was, indeed, the biological daughter of Raven and Jinx. No one could explain how that was possible; not even Raven and Jinx. They had spent a few years at the monastery getting themselves and their relationship to each other straightened out and raising their daughter. They decided to remain at the monastery for the next few years as its protectors - until one day Raven found her old communicator._

_And the rest is, as they say, history._

_Around the same time as the children of the New Titans were being born, a woman by the name of Harley Quinn - the former side-kick of notorious Gotham City villain The Joker - gave birth to a daughter she named Hayley Quinn. When the girl was nine years old, her mother was murdered - and she had vanished. No clues as to who was behind the crime were ever found, nor was the girl ever recovered._

_Now, five years after the return of Raven and Jinx, a new threat is looming on the horizon. A threat that could destroy a civilization and send a world into an unending reign of tyranny and despair. It may be time for the children of the New Titans to step up, and reclaim the mantle of_

_**The Teen Titans**_

**Author's Note:** And there it is. A recap of what happend in **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**, with some extra tidbits thrown in. I hope that those of you reading this have already read the aforementioned story anyway; that way, you'll know what's been added that wasn't mentioned in the prior story. Reviews very much welcome.


	2. Chapter 2

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for later chapters.

**DISCLAIMER II:** I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself.

**Author's Note:** This story is a direct sequel to **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**, and will revolve mainly around a new team of Teen Titans consisting of the previously mentioned characters. I apologize in advance; this chapter is meant to be a recap for those who read **NIHTL**, or a summary for those who haven't. Though I really recommend you read **NIHTL** first.

**Titans Forever**

**Chapter 1 - The New Generation**

_Five years after 'This End Could Be The Beginning'_

"I'm _not_ wearing a leotard," Shadow stated flatly, glaring at her best friend.

"You'd look cute in it!" Nightfire insisted, trying to give the long-sleeved swim-suit like outfit to her.

"No," she said in the same monotone one of her moms had been famous for. "You want it that much, get it yourself."

"But it's your color!" the half-alien girl insisted. Shadow didn't say a word; she just turned around and walked out of the store. Nightfire sighed, put the outfit back on the rack, and followed her friend.

"You know," she said, catching up to her, "you could show some interest in this."

"It's shopping, Nightfire," the half-demon girl replied. "I hate shopping."

"But you shop all the time!"

"_Not_ in stores like that."

"Why not?"

"It's a _costume_ store, Night," Shadow said. "A _Halloween_ costume store."

"I go there," she pouted.

"Besides, that was a costume of my _mom_," came the answer. "Do you know how embarrassing that is?"

"But she wore it once."

"When she was a teenager, Night."

"You're a teenager!"

Shadow rolled her eyes. Nightfire acted just like her mom more often than she was comfortable with. But she was her best friend, so some leeway had to be made for her 'quirks'. The half-alien had her mom's hair, her dad's skin color, and a disturbing blend of her parent's attitudes. She tended to wear red and white clothes more often than not, and even her training uniform was a (surprisingly tasteful) alternating pattern of red and white. Shadow, on the other hand, felt herself to be the more sensible of the two: she wore only black and dark blue, with the occassional purple thrown in. The only exception was her hair; about the time she turned twelve, her hair began getting pink in it. Now, her hair was mostly a shade of black that was almost bluish, with naturally occuring random pink highlights in it.

"I know, Night," she said, "but what she liked when she was my age is a lot different that what I like now."

"I'm sorry," her best friend said. "I just thought you'd like it." The girl sounded so sad that Shadow inwardly groaned. _Now I have to think of something that'll make her happy, otherwise I'm in for a miserable day_, she thought. Sighing, knowing she was going to regret saying it, Shadow said, "Nightfire? Do you want some ice cream?"

"Ice cream? Really?" the half-Tamaranian asked, immediately perking up. Shadow reluctantly nodded and braced herself. Nightfire squealed in delight and hugged her best friend, twirling them both up into the air.

"Do you think they'll be back soon?" Phase asked, sitting on the couch in the Tower's common room.

"Who?" Stinger asked, looking up from the tech manual he was reading.

"Santa and the Easter Bunny," the other boy replied sarcastically. "Who do you think?"

"Dude, they went shopping."

"Two hours ago."

"And you care . . . why?"

Phase made a frustrated noise and dropped his head into his hands. Ever since that one day five years ago, the four of them (Phase, Stinger, Nightfire, and Shadow) had spent every summer at the Tower, training in the use of their powers - as well as more conventional fighting techniques. Stinger and Shadow lived at the Tower, anyway, and had developed a brother-sister relationship. It was no secret to anyone that Phase liked Shadow - well, it was to Shadow for some reason - so Stinger knew the reason why his best bud was anxious for the two girls to come back.

"What's your plan to woo her this time?" the chocolate-skinned teen asked. "A cake with a tombstone on it? A book filled with dark romantic poetry? Singing her a song over the loudspeakers?"

"Well, how would _you_ do it?" Phase asked.

"_I_ wouldn't; she's like my sister, so it's not gonna happen." He looked over at his friend. "Though I wouldn't hide out in her room again."

The light-skinned teen turned red in embarrassment; he hadn't known she was going to change, and had been slammed through two walls before he phased himself and passed through the next four without getting hurt anymore. The two fell silent again, and Stinger returned his attention to the manual. Like his father, Cyborg, he was a tech-head and actually enjoyed reading the manuals.

"Do you think she likes me?" his best friend asked again. Groaning, Stinger shut his book, stood up, and left the room.

"What?"

Raven, meanwhile, was meditating on the roof of the Tower. In the past, back when she was a Teen Titan, it would've been done to keep her emotions (and powers) under control; this time, like every time she'd meditated for the last fifteen years, it was to find her center and _embrace_ her emotions. By accepting and embracing her emotions, she'd managed a degree of control - and a profound sense of peace - that she'd been seeking for a long time. She'd never forgotten what it had almost cost her to realize her problem; after all, even all these years later, she still had some problems seeing out of her left eye. Not blindness, but more of a blurring of that eye's vision. Jinx still felt a little guilty about that, though Raven never had and never would blame her (even though her wife _had_ been the one to cause the injury). Right now, Jinx and Bumblebee were out shopping for anniversary gifts, and Cyborg had gone to get some parts to fix the T-Jet, so it was just Raven at the Tower with Phase and Stinger. She didn't mind, though; maybe it had to do with becoming a real parent (she still remembered those three kids who considered her their 'mama'), or maybe it was all that she'd gone through the past decade-and-a-half, but she'd gained a lot more patience and peace of mind. Besides, _those_ two had learned that it was _very_ difficult to keep things hidden from her; she smiled as she recalled how many times she'd snuck up on them setting up pranks for one of the grown-ups, or sensed them about to commit one and tripped it on them.

She didn't used to enjoy doing that as a Teen Titan; back then, it just happened. Thinking back on those days caused her to remember the others, and she smiled again. Nightwing and Starfire had decided to go grocery shopping, and Changling had tagged along to make sure they got tofu (Lavender had followed _him_ to make sure he didn't put any of the meat back). While everyone was all doing legitmate things, Raven wasn't stupid; she knew her birthday was coming up, and she had a feeling that that was the real reason all of the adults but her were gone today. _It's ironic_, she thought, _that Jinx and I got married at that monastery on the same day as my birthday._ The only regret about that day that she had was that her friends hadn't been able to be there.

"Um, Miss Raven?" came a tentative voice from behind her. Because she was levitating, Raven merely rotated around.

"Hello, Phase," she said warmly. "What's the matter?" She smiled slyly. "Still pinning after my daughter?" She was rewarded with an immediate blush.

"Y-ye-yeah," he stammered, finding his shoes extremely interesting. She smothered a laugh.

"Well, she's a little like I was at that age, I suppose," the goth-like woman said. "Not very good at picking up subtle cues - at least as far as attraction and all that goes."

"But I really, really like her," the fourteen-year-old said.

"I know," Raven replied, sympathetic. "But you have to understand that she may or may not share your feelings." She watched the boy's shoulders slump. "I'm sorry, Phase. But you can't make her like you; if she does like you, she'll let you know. If not, that's okay. Remember, you're just fourteen years old; there's plenty of time for you to find that special someone."

"I suppose," he replied morosely.

"It took me a couple of tries to find the love of my life," she told him, coming out of her floating lotus position. "My first love died saving the city, though I'm sure you've heard the story before." Walking over to the boy, she put her hands on his shoulders. "Maybe things will work out between you and Shadow; maybe not. All you can do is take it one step at a time, and hope for the best."

Back at the mall, Shadow was staring at Nightfire in undisguised awe; she'd never seen _anyone_ eat _that much_ ice cream . . . _at once_. Her own ice cream, a dark chocoloate fudge cone, was forgotten in her hand. When the half-Tamaranian had seen that the ice cream shop offered 23 flavors, she had to try them all. So she got an extra-extra-large bowl that had twenty-three scoops in it. And now she was on her _second bowl_. The girl noticed she was being stared at, and looked over at her best friend.

"What?" she asked, the question muffled by the double-spoonful of ice cream in her mouth. The question snapped the pink-/black-haired girl out of her daze, and she shook her head.

"It's just ice cream, Night," Shadow said.

"But it is so _delicious_," Nightfire moaned, somehow managing to swallow everything without choking. Sighing, Shadow decided to concentrate on her own ice cream, and looked around at the mall. She began wondering if she'd ever find anything for her parents; after all, their anniversary - and her mom's birthday - was coming up. As she was wondering if the mall would have anything that she felt would be good for them, she caught a flash of blue out of the corner of her eye. Looking, she was stopped as she watched a girl with blue hair walking. Something about her arrested Shadow's attention; her hair may have caught her attention, but something else kept it. Even from this far away, Shadow could sense the girl's aura; she exuded confidence, danger, even a little insanity. Not really a good combination, especially as the goth teen could also sense other, darker, things lurking beneath the surface of the girl's emotional state.

"Shadow? Are you okay?"

"Huh? What?" Shadow asked, snapping out of her daze.

"Are you okay?" Nightfire asked.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine," she answered, smiling at her friend.

"Were you looking at something?"

"Not . . . really. But I . . . did see a store that I want to check out."

"Okay. Um, can I have some more ice cream?"

Artemis watched as the girl with the black-and-pink hair turned back to the other girl at the table with her. She had no idea how long that girl had been staring at her, nor did she know why. It was strange. But what was stranger was that now Artemis couldn't stop staring at _her_. _I wonder who she is?_ she asked herself, then shrugged. _Doesn't really matter, except that there's something about her that's . . . I don't know. Just . . . somthing._ Artemis was like a cat; once curiosity got ahold of her, it wouldn't let go until she'd solved the puzzle. And that girl looked like a _very_ interesting puzzle. Pursing her lips in a manner similar to way her deceased (but forgotten) mother did, Artemis knew that things in Jump City would get very interesting from this day forward.

**Author's Note:** Well, there it is. The first chapter of the new story. Technically it's the second, but the prologue was merely a recap. This chapter may not be as 'exciting' as the first one or two of **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**, but I thought it turned out rather well considering it was merely to set the stage for the characters. Please review. Please? And let me know what you think of the characters.


	3. Chapter 3

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for later chapters.

**DISCLAIMER II:** I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself.

**Author's Note:** Just so all of you readers know, **Nothing Is Harder Than Love** wouldn't have turned out as well as it had - nor would this story even be possible - if it wasn't for the assistance of Echo of an Idiot. That guy helped me think my way around some pretty tough corners, and really helped me develop the story into what all of you read. Meant to say something before. That's actually why his character, Artemis, is in this story. It is a 'thank you' to him for his help. If you want to know about the original, Echo-version of his character, read **Second Chances**. You won't regret it. I didn't, haven't, and won't. :D

**Titans Forever**

**Chapter 2 - Training Sessions**

It took her a while, but Shadow finally found the perfect gifts for her moms: Raven's birthday present was a cut onyx glass with a raven etched in using sapphire gems, her anniversary gift was a knee-length black leather duster with dark blue trim, and Jinx's was also a knee-lenght black duster, though with purple trim. Between her parents' gifts, and her best friend's appetite for ice cream, Shadow was now broke. As she readied a teleportation portal for her and Nightfire to return to the Tower, she wondered if Uncle Cy had finished the cake - or if he'd even followed her directions.

Fortunately, he had. Raven's birthday (and her and Jinx's anniversary) wasn't for another couple of days, but they needed everything ready beforehand. Rather, they wanted everything ready before then. Everyone had learned the hard way not to wait until the day of to finish everything. After putting everything away, business continued as normal for the former Titans and their children. Cyborg, Changling, Phase, and Stinger played video games against in two-on-two matches, Starfire and Nightfire cheered them on, Nightwing sat studying police reports and updates on meta-human criminals, Raven read a book of some kind with Jinx curled up next to her, and Shadow floated upside down behind her parents, also reading a book. The relaxing evening was essential; after all, tomorrow the children would start seriously training. Before, they had been instructed in the use of their powers how to control and manipulate them. Tomorrow, they would begin applying them to combat situations.

Tomorrow, they would be Titans in training.

As had become _her_ habit, Shadow was awake and on the roof of the Tower before the sun rose. She liked watching the sun rise into the sky, finding that it gave her a sense of peace and serenity. Her mom (Raven) had made sure her daughter knew not control her emotions, but to embrace them ("I don't want you making the same mistake I did," was what she'd been told). Of course, her mama (Jinx) had also helped train her in her powers. So far as she knew, Shadow was unique. She possessed both of her parents' powers - demonic and hex - which made her powerful. She knew, though, that having that kind of power could corrupt her if she allowed it to. _I wish I knew more about how I came to possess both of my moms' powers - and even how I came to be_, she thought to herself. _Not even they know._ Sighing, her thoughts turned back to yesterday - and the mysterious blue-haired girl she'd seen. Before she could begin thinking too much on it, though, she sensed the others stirring. _Time to start training_, she thought.

She entered the common area to find everyone else already there, though Nightfire was just sitting down.

"Take a seat, Shadow," Nightwing said, standing up. Looking over the group, his gaze picked out the four teenagers. "Alright, listen up. Today begins your training. I know that all of you have been looking forward to this day, so you could become heroes like your parents. Let me tell you right now: it's not going to happen instantly. Sure, the world is more accepting of super heroes now than it was before, but you still have to earn the respect that comes with being a super hero. To keep that respect, once you've earned it, you must stay true to being a hero." Pausing, he made sure he caught all of the kids' eye. "Being a super hero isn't a game; your actions could, literally, decide the fate of the city - or even the world. I know you don't want to hear a lecture, that you want to hurry up and start training, but this is part of your training, too. You four will be a team. As a team, you have to trust and depend upon each other. Though you've grown up together for the most part, that doesn't make you a team. That comes with training and fighting together. We, your parents, learned that many times during our careers as first the Teen Titans, then as the New Titans. Sometimes, we'd let ourselves become isolated, physically or emotionally, from our team. Every time that happened, it proved to be a bad decision. So if you have a problem, _any_ kind of problem, talk to your team about it; don't keep it to yourself." Nightwing nodded to them. "Okay, lecture over. Cyborg?"

The cyberized former Titan stepped forward. "Today's training will start with individual training sessions," he said. "These sessions will be to determine your control over your powers, your skills proficiency, and other areas. Before you can be forged into a team, you must first forge yourself into a team player. Finding out precisely what you're capable of is the first step. In anticipation of y'all training to be Titans, I set up a fully-equipped training course. Though capable of being configured to any situation you may or may not encounter, for today it is set up as a gauntlet course; you will face automated weapons emplacements, combat-programmed robots, and other difficulties. Everything is set for stun or low-power levels. You won't get killed, but you can definitely get hurt. _So be careful_." He looked at his trainees. "Everybody got all of that?"

"Yes, sir!" Phase, Stinger, and Nightfire said in unison.

"Completely," Shadow said.

"Good," Cyborg acknowledged. "Shadow. You'll go first. And just so the rest of you know, the course will automatically reconfigure to a different gauntlet mode after each completion." He grinned. "That means you can't cheat."

Shadow stood at one end of the long room, and let out a long, low whistle. It definitely _was_ a gauntlet; the stun-equipped chain guns and lasers had overlapping fields of fire, the drones (what few she could see from her position) had good cover - or looked like they didn't need cover at all. But the environment it was set for, well, that had her smiling. It looked like the area around the monastery where she'd been born and spent most of her life. Just then, the ceiling-mounted speakers crackled.

_"Alright, Shadow,"_ Cyborg said. _"In about thirty seconds, your run will start. Show us what you got, but don't overdo yourself."_

"Got it, Uncle Cy," she said, smirking. _Don't overdo it, he says. I can _finally_ let loose, and he doesn't want me to _overdo_ it? Funny._

Right on the mark, thirty seconds passed and she sprang into motion the moment she saw the auto-guns moving. She knew that it wasn't a timed course, it was an assessment course, so she made sure to encounter everything she could. She created a portal that absorbed the bullets from a chain gun - and spit them out of another portal at an approaching heavy drone. She blasted another drone, this one moving like a meta-human, with a hex bolt. It's right knee came off, sending it crashing to the 'ground' and tripping another drone. _This isn't too bad_, she thought as she cartwheeled through a fusilade of bullets and laser bursts. She ran forward and dropped to her knees, arching her back until she was parallel to the ground as she slid forward underneath the arms of two on-rushing drones. She flicked hex bolts into their knees as she passed, before pushing off the ground with her knees and springing to her feet. Concentrating, she lashed the backs of the two machines with a whip of dark energy - then ducked as stun laser bursts occupied the area she'd just been in. Using her 'duck' as a preliminary motion, Shadow sprang up and back into a long back flip, landing on top of a drone's headless shoulders. Reaching down, she 'phased' a hex bolt into it with her dark energy, then leaped off of and dashed for another drown - even as the hex bolt caused the drone's power systems to short out (the electrical discharges crawling across its body and making its limbs spasm).

"She's doing good," Nightwing said, nodding as he scanned the control room's monitors.

"I would've grounded her if she wasn't," Jinx said, smirking just like her daughter had been moments ago.

"The tough part's coming up," Cyborg warned.

_Well, this isn't good_, Shadow thought as she barely twirled out of the way of a barreling drone, and then had to duck as another one attempted to clothesline her. The drones were coming at her faster and faster, although dodging the guns wasn't all that hard anymore. It seemed that she'd inherited Jinx's acrobatic agility in addition to her hex powers. She had been doing fairly well, until the program running the course kicked it up a notch. A stun-level laser burst hit her in her chest, knocking her flying. She hit the ground on her back, skidded a couple of yards, and backflipped onto her feet - only to have a drone's laser knock her back to the ground. She quickly rolled to her left as the ground erupted into little craters from chain gun stun rounds and laser stun bursts. Leaping to her feet, she focused on dodging and evasion rather than attacking. Her patience was wearing thin, though.

"Alright, that's it," she said, barely managing to duck a charging drone _and_ a barrage of stun rounds. "Play time's over!"

Opening her left fist, she created a fairly large hex bolt. Using her right hand, she created a small teleportation portal. "Time for a little Cris-Cross," she muttered, adding "Azarath Metrion Zinthos!" as she fired the hex bolt into the portal and dropped through another teleportation portal directly below her. The portal vanished a split-second after the bolt passed through. Suddenly, dozens of micro-portals filled an area two dozen feet in diameter. That one hex bolt, edged with the black of dark energy, shot from one to another with increasing speed. Soon, that one bolt began looking like a pink line was being drawn from one portal to another, always going to a different portal until it looked like a web of black-tinged pink was being created. At least, that's the glimpse those watching got before the dust, smoke, and flames totally obscured everything.

When the area cleared again, thanks in part to the powerful ventilation system in the Tower, everyone in the control and observation center was jaw-dropping stunned by the sight that greeted them. The area looked like a massive battle had taken place; there were craters and scattered machine parts everywhere. And standing in the middle of it all was Shadow. She looked around her, looked in the general direction of the C/O area, and said, "Uncle Cy? I think I broke it." Then her eyes rolled up into her head and she collapsed to the ground.

"Holy shit," Cyborg breathed, even as Raven teleported into the gauntlet course and then teleported her daughter to the infirmary.

"Swear Jar!" Nightfire shouted.

"You . . . did record that, Cyborg, right?" Nightwing asked, still in awe by what he had just seen.

"Yeah," the part-machine Titan replied, somewhat distractedly. "Every single second of it."

"That was a very powerful skill," Starfire said. "But it seems to have taken a lot of energy out of Shadow."

"That could be a problem in a battle," Nightwing said. Jinx had left the room, headed towards the infirmary, as soon as Raven had teleported out. "The only time that technique should be used in a battle is a last-ditch effort."

"I'm gonna have to rebuild the course, and those drones, before the rest of you can do your runs," Cyborg said to the other three Titans-in-Training. "It may take a couple of hours or so, so y'all better be getting ready during that time."

"How is she?" Jinx asked her wife as she walked into the infirmary. Raven looked over at her with a relieved smile on her face.

"She'll be fine," she replied. "She just wore herself out with that attack."

"I didn't know she was capable of performing such a move," the hex-powered Titan said, not bothering to disguise the fact that she was very impressed.

"Neither did I," came the response. "She never practiced it, so I guess she must have just been planning it in her mind."

"What a combination, though," Jinx mused. "We did something like that, back during our Teen Titan days."

"True, but we each have our own powers," Raven reminded her. "Shadow has both of our powers. Our _full_ powers."

"You know, Sweets, that's something I still don't get," Jinx said to her. "How can she be a half-demon like you, if _you're_ a half-demon? Shouldn't she be a quarter-demon?"

"She should," she agreed. "But Cyborg's tests all said the same thing: she's a half-demon like I am."

"And still no idea on how she was conceived by the two of us?"

"None."

"Do you think we'll ever figure it out?"

"I don't know, but while I would like to know, it really isn't that important, is it?"

"Not at the moment, no. But . . ."

"It could be more important than we realize," Raven finished morbidly.

"And that's what scares me," Jinx admitted, gazing upon the sleeping form of her daughter.

"That . . . that was some training session," Phase said in awe.

"I _definitely_ don't want to make _her_ mad," Stinger agreed.

"She wouldn't hurt us," Nightfire said.

"She didn't toss _you_ through a few walls," Phase argued.

"I also wasn't the one who tried to surprise her while she was dressing," the half-Tamaranian girl reminded him.

"Oh, yeah," he said, blushing.

"We'll have to watch her back in a real battle," Stinger said. "You know, if she uses that move. It looked like it took a lot out of her."

"It scared me," Nightfire admitted. "She has a lot of power, and it could change her."

"Well, we're her friends," Phase said. "We'll make sure it doesn't change her for the worse."

"We wouldn't be her friends if we did otherwise," Stinger agreed.

"That's right, kids," Bumblebee said, walking into the common room with Changling and Lavender. Starfire had gone to check on Shadow, and Nightwing had stayed to help Cyborg. "As friends, you should always help each other."

"And as a team," Changling added, "you should always look out for each other. Trust your instincts about things. When you guys get to going on your own missions, sooner or later you'll get that feeling that something isn't right."

"That's your subconscious picking up on something your conscious mind had 'seen' but hadn't registered," Lavender explained. "Some small clue or tell-tale that gives away an ambush or trap."

"We won't let you done," Phase promised.

"Make sure that goes for your team, too," Bumblebee said.

**Author's Note 2:** Well, there it finally is. The second chapter of Titans Forever is finally finished. I'm sorry for the delay in posting it, but I ran into a mental block with it. Echo of an Idiot helped me get past that block (thanks a bundle, man, I owe you), so it was just finding the time to finish it. Reviews?


	4. Chapter 4

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for later chapters.

**DISCLAIMER II:** I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself.

**Author's Note:** I appreciate you readers sticking with this story even though it's taking somewhat longer to update than NIHTL did. I hope this story is going over as well as that one did.

**Titans Forever**

**Chapter 3: Building the Wrong Bridges**

After Cyborg had repaired the course, and rebuilt as many of his training drones as he could, Phase, Stinger, and Nightfire went through the course. They weren't as spectacular as Shadow had been, they still did better than their parents had expected. Phase had acutally walked through a few drones and rewired them while he was intangible, turning them against the other drones; Nightfire had used a combination of the powers she'd inherited from her mother and the martial arts skills she'd been taught by her father; and Stinger did something similar to Phase, in that he used his powers to zip around the drones and reprogram them to act as shields from the chain guns.

"They all did pretty good overall," Cyborg said after reviewing the simulation scores. "Individually, they'd be fairly good, though Shadow shouldn't use that move of hers except as a last resort."

"I think that's a given," Nightwing agreed. "What about their potential for teamwork?"

"It's pretty high," Cyborg told him. "Though only training and experience will confirm that." He turned away from the monitors. "Shadow relies a little too much on her powers, though as part of team that won't be a problem. Nightfire has a good combination of powers and hand-to-hand skills, though she isn't effective at using them both simultaneously. Phase would have to rely on his teammates until the fight gets up close. And Stinger focuses too much on his tech skills right now."

"Like you said, though, training and experience will help correct that," Raven said, walking into the room.

"Raven, how is Shadow?" asked Starfire.

"She's doing fine now," the goth woman said. "Just exhausted from that power action in the gauntlet run."

"That _was_ some display down there," Nightwing agreed, looking at her. "Did you know about that?"

"That was the first time," she replied, after shaking her head. "Jinx didn't know about it, either. We just taught her how to use and control her powers, and taught her some fighting skills."

"So she came up with it on her own?" Changling asked in surprise. Raven just nodded.

"You know, it kind of made me think of that combo you and Jinx used to do, back in our own Teen Titan days," Cyborg said. "You know, where she'd go at an enemy and you'd teleport her to where she was coming from a completely different direction."

Raven opened her mouth to say something, then closed it as she considered her friend's words. "You know," she said slowly, "you're right. That _is_ what it reminds me of. Perhaps _that_ is where she got it from."

"At least she tried it in training rather than out in the field," Nightwing told her. "If she wants it to be in her playbook, we'll need to work out its weaknesses."

The next day, Shadow was allowed to leave the infirmary. Even though she hated being kept in there, she understood the necessity of it. To be honest, she hadn't anticipated the move draining her like it had. Her parents - she always called Raven 'mama' and Jinx 'mom' - were concerned about her, of course, but they didn't become obsessive or manical about her safety. Just warned her to be careful with practicing her new move. Raven suggested meditation as a way to help her control her energy flow, and Jinx suggested physical training to get her body used to working in an exhaustive state. Both of them, though, agreed that she shouldn't overdo it, and that she ease into things. They didn't make her promise not to do it again, they didn't try to confine her to bed to rest some more, didn't try to stuff her with food to get her energy back up. When she'd asked why, Raven had told her that she needed to make her own mistakes and learn from them. They'd give her advice if she asked for it, but if she was going to be a world-saving super hero she had to learn responsibility and make her own mistakes.

_I have the coolest parents in the world_, Shadow said to herself as she walked through the mall. Nightwing had given the entire 'team' a free day after the Gauntlet Run as they'd started calling it; he knew that a hard training session should be followed by an equal amount of 'cool-down' time. Since yesterday had been to gauge each team member's personal skill and power level, they hadn't had a set training schedule. "That," Nightwing had told them, "will come tomorrow, so you four get today to relax and have fun. You'll get downtime during training, of course, but you'll have a daily training schedule to pace yourselves to."

Nightfire had decided to spend her free day flying around and playing tag with the clouds - however one _did_ play tag with clouds. Phase and Stinger decided to play video games (of course) and to work on whatever tech project Stinger had going. So Shadow had decided to just wander around the mall. She could've spent the time meditating, or reading some of her mama's grimoires and texts, but figured she could read during her 'scheduled' downtime and that she'd be meditating as part of her training. So that left the mall.

"And I just _enjoy_ being here," she muttered to herself.

"You, too, huh?" asked a voice near her. Jumping, she whirled around to see the blue-haired girl from a few days ago standing there. "Sorry," she added. "Didn't mean to startle you."

"Um, that's okay," Shadow said, feeling a little foolish. "I didn't mean to say it out loud."

"Hey, that's cool," the girl said. "I don't much like it here, either; not a lot of stores that catch my interest."

"Hey, me, too," she replied, surprised. She held out her hand. "I'm Shadow."

"That's a strange name," the girl said, shaking her hand, "but then I can't talk; my name's Artemis." She gave Shadow a smiling, sideways look. "Go on, say it."

"You already said it," she told her, smiling herself. "So I don't need to."

"You got a point there," Artemis agreed, chuckling a little. "So, you wanna hang out? Seeing as how we're both bored and all."

"Okay," Shadow agreed.

"Come on, I know a fun place," her new friend said, gesturing for her to follow.

A few minutes later saw the two girls heading towards the warehouse district of Jump City.

"Um, we're, uh, not going to do anything illegal, are we?" Shadow asked.

"Why do you ask?" Artemis replied, neither confirming nor denying the faint accusation in the other girl's tone.

"Well, you see, my parents are super heroes-"

"-And you don't want to disappoint them," Artemis finished. When Shadow nodded, she smiled. "Don't worry. It won't be illegal, and no one will get hurt."

After about half an hour, they had reached the warehouse district, and Artemis led her to one that looked like it had been abandoned since the early 1920s.

"Are you _sure_ it's nothing illegal?" Shadow asked, eyeing the decaying relic of a building. Artemis laughed, which was _just_ this side of sane.

"Absolutely," she replied. "This is just my little hide-out. It's much nicer on the inside than it looks on the outside. Well, parts of it are, anyway."

"Your hide-out?" the pink-and-black-haired girl said. "Why do you need a hide-out?"

"Hey, your parents are super heroes, right? Well, super heroes have hide-outs, right?"

"Um, not really."

"Batman does."

"He has a _headquarters_."

"It's a cave. An _underground_ cave."

"So?"

"Well, he's a super hero, right? And an underground cave is usually considered a hide-out, right?"

"Actually, he doesn't have any powers," Shadow said. "And he's a vigilante, not a hero."

"He's part of the Justice League."

"He's a _part-time_ member."

"Still counts as being part of it."

"Are we going in, or are going to stand out here arguing about whether or not Batman is a real super hero?" Shadow retorted. Artemis gave her a pouting look before sticking her tongue at her - which Shadow returned. Grinning hugely, the blue-haired girl led her newfound friend into her hideout. The place was filled with rusted out equipment, from old-style steam-powered tractors to old freight containers.

"So if you're parents have super powers, you probably have them, too, right?" Artemis asked.

"Um, yeah, I do," Shadow confirmed.

"What are your powers?"

"Well, I actually have the same powers my parents' have."

"Really? Do they have the same power, then?"

"No; my mom has hex powers, and my mama has, well, demonic powers."

"Wait a minute," Artemis said, stopping. "Are you saying that your parents are Rave and Jinx?"

"Is that a problem?" Shadow asked a little defensively.

"Heck no! I think it's awesome! But since they're both women, how were you born?"

"No one knows. I mean, according to my Uncle Cyborg, my DNA is a fusion of both of my parents' - as you would expect from a normal, heterosexual couple."

"Way weird, and way cool. So you're a quarter-demon, then?"

"No, I'm a half-demon just like my mama."

"How do explain _that_ one?"

"Same way I explained being conceived by two women: No one has a clue."

"So you're like a living, walking, talking mystery or puzzle?"

"That's the first time that's been said of me, but it sounds pretty accurate."

"Well, that's just great!"

"It is?"

"Yeah! I _love_ puzzles!"

"Don't tell me that you love me?"

"I wouldn't go _that_ far," Artemis said, adding, _Yet_, in her head. "But I _do_ love the idea of solving your mystery."

_O-kay_, Shadow thought, staying silent. That_ statement could be taken any number of ways._

"Well, here we are," the other girl said, interrupting her thoughts. The Titan-in-training found herself looking at a cleaned up and polished 1930s two-deck train car.

"Whoa," she breathed.

"Yeah," Artemis agreed. "Spent about half a year cleaning it up, inside _and_ out."

"Did you run away from home or something?"

"Let's leave at the 'or something' thing for now, okay?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Wanna come in?"

"Really?"

"Well, I wouldn't've brought you all this way just to let you only have a look," the blue-haired girl said. She placed her hand on the car's door and seemed to concentrate. The patch her hand was one began glowing in different colors, making Shadow think of the mood rings Changling liked to show her. Then it blinked in a solid red color twice, chimed once, and then the door slid open.

"Temperature sensitive cyber-lock," Artemis explained. "I, um, can control the temperature of my body and the area around me. At least, out to a certain distance."

"So you're a meta-human, too?" Shadow asked.

"Sure am."

"So cool."

"Sure am."

"Not funny."

Artemis paused for a moment.

"Sure am."

Shadow groaned and rolled her eyes, but inside she was laughing. This girl, Artemis, was actually funny. Following her inside and felt her jaw drop in amazement.

"It was once a combination sleeping and dining car," she told her shocked friend. "This deck was the dining portion, and the deck above us has six single-occupancy cabins."

"This is . . . amazing," she said, coming out of her shock.

"You can come here any time," Artemis told her.

"Really?" Shadow asked, shocked. "But we only just met today."

"Yeah, but you're the first friend I've made since I've been here. Just let me know when you drop by, okay?"

"Of course," she agreed.

"So . . . are you gonna come back after today?"

Shadow looked at her for a few moments before letting a grin split her face.

"Sure am."

**Author's Note:** And that's chapter three. Sorry for the delay; been struggling with this chapter, writer's block, and dealing with life in general. I hope it was worth the wait. And a thanks goes out to Echo; without his help, you guys would still be waiting for this chapter. Review, please.


	5. Chapter 5

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for later chapters.

**DISCLAIMER II:** I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself.

**Author's Note:** I'm glad you guys are really liking this story. It's a lot of fun to write this. I would appreciate some reviews from those of you reading this.

**Titans Forever**

**Chapter 4 Part 1 - Trouble Is Coming**

Artemis stood on a rooftop just across from the First Jump City Bank. Looking down at its roof, she smirked. She'd started casing this place just over a week ago, a couple of days before she ran into that goth-like girl at the mall again - and learned her name was Shadow. _Nice kid_, she thought, even though she knew they were nearly the exact same age (Shadow was about a week older). _A little dark, but that's not really a bad thing._ She sighed. _She'd be kinda mad at me, though, if she knew what I did to get that _nice_ stuff I've got._ Shrugging, she turned her attention back to the bank's roof. According to the blueprints - amazing what a wig, make-up, glasses, and a bitch attitude could accomplish - the roof was lined with temperature-sensitive pressure sensors. Though very sophisticated, and capable of making even the most experienced thief hesitate, they weren't enough to stop her. Jumping onto a wire that led from the building she was on to another building on the opposite side of the bank, Artemis walked on that ultra-thin wire as though she was walking on a broad sidewalk.

Standing over the bank's roof, Artemis leaped down onto an exposed air conditioning unit. Tapping into her powers, she lowered her body temperature so as not to set off the sensors, and leaped to a vent cover that was barely raised above roof level. Standing on her hands, she studied the route to a skylight that was placed an inconvenient distance way. Chuckling, she raised the temperature of the metal her palms were resting on. The metal began glowing, first orange, then red, then white-hot at the corners. The cover sagging was the all the warning Artemis had before the cover fell into the duct below it. Dropping with the cover, she spread her legs out slightly, wincing as her feet hit the outside edge of the vent's top, stopping her fall. Breathing a small sigh of relief, she placed her hands on the side of the vent and twisted her feet until she could slide her legs into the vent. Going very slowly, and displaying a degree of skill and flexibility that would've gotten her every gold medal in the gymnastics portion of the Summer Olympics, Artemis moved first her feet, then her legs, down until she was bent in two. Then she pushed her legs down while simultaneously rotating on her hands until she was vertical again - but with her feet pointing down this time. Taking a deep breath, she began pressure walking down the ventilation shaft until she reached the bottom.

Thirty minutes later - she'd taken her time so she could check for any security systems or alarms not stated in the blue-prints - Artemis reached her destination. It wasn't the bank's main vault, but one of the little side vaults that the bank places valuable items and heirlooms from rich and valued clients in. The 1st JCB had three such rooms: one on either side of the bank, and one directly behind the main vault - which was also the only entrance to it. _That_ was the one she'd gone to. Pulling out a diamond-edged kinetic mini-saw from the equipment harness she was wearing, she used her control over the temperature of her immediate environment - and herself - to heat the saw's blade before activating its micro-battery. As the blade spun up, she cut into the ventilation shaft and made an entrace for herself into the secondary vault (of course, she'd taken her time to make sure she could easily replace the cut section and hopefully leave no one the wiser). Putting the saw back in its place - after giving the blade time to cool off, she used a pair of magnetic hinges she'd stolen from a WayneTech laboratory to turn it into a hatch and swung it open. Poking her head out, she looked around as best as she could and determined that she was in the right vault. Reaching into her harness, she pulled out a mono-fiber rope that had a powerful but small electromagnet on one end. That end she attached to the 'ceiling' of the vent she was in. Making sure that the other end of the rope was securely fastened to her harness, she flipped herself out of the shaft and fell to the floor. Squeezing the locking clamp, she stopped herself about four feet from the floor. Pulling out a night-vision monocular with wire-frame enhancing, she examined the room, looking for a specific deposit box. Finding it, she replaced the monocular and pulled out a mini-magentic grapnel. Launching it at the wall that held the box she was looking for, she activated the retraction mechanism and let herself be pulled to the wall.

Locking the MMG to her harness, she examined Deposit Box JC135782-44E. As she had expected, it used a combination of security card and electronic key card (in this case, the EKC was literal; there was a large slot for a 'fat' key that was actually an electronic enabler for the security card). Chuckling, she pulled out her _skeleton_ electronic key card and put it in the slot. Then, she pulled out a security card that had a cord that led to a specialized PDA in her vest. The PDA would read the inquiry from the box's security program via the card, run it through an advanced code-crunching algorithim (that was, incidentally, developed by WayneTech for the government's intelligence agencies) and then feed the correct code to the box. Within seconds, she'd 'cracked' the lock on the deposit box and it popped out of the wall a little with a faintly audible _click_. Smiling with satisfaction, Artemis reached down and pulled the box out.

As had been her habit ever since she and her moms had moved into the Tower, Shadow was up before the sun and was sitting on the edge of the roof, waiting for that first ray of light to break the horizon. It was always a special time for her, because it gave her hope for the rest of the day. Sometimes, one or both of her moms would join her, which made it even better. Lately, though, she'd noticed things changing between her and everyone else. She didn't know if the change was with her, or with them, but it was happening. And while she hadn't ever really been close to her friends, now it seemed as though she was almost a stranger. _Okay_, she thought, _maybe not _that_ bad. But we don't seem to be . . . friends, anymore. Even Nightfire is kinda distant towards me._ And although Shadow was pretty smart and observant, she had yet to realize that it all began when she became friends with Artemis. Sighing, she felt she should be worried about the situation, but found herself not really caring. She was sad about this slow drifting apart, but was hoping things would simply work out. _There it is_, she thought, catching that first hint of the dawn breaking.

"Somethings going on with Shadow," Raven told her wife over breakfast. As had been their custom for the past few years, they had at one breakfast a week that was just the two of them.

"What do you mean, Sweets?" Jinx asked. Raven blushed at the nickname, but not like she had when they had first been going out.

"She's not acting like herself," the gothic woman pointed out.

"Oh, that," the hex woman replied. "She's fifteen years old, Sweets. People change during that time."

"I know, Cats, I know," she said, sighing. "But . . . I don't know. She just doesn't seem like herself. Jinx reached out and placed a hand on Raven's.

"I know you're worried, love," she told her. "She's a miracle, there's no doubt about that. And I know that makes her really special - to both of us. But I think you've done well with her."

"You've done great, too," Raven replied, smiling at her.

"Won't argue with that," Jinx replied, drawing a laugh from her wife. "But it was you who decided that giving her responsibility over her actions, and letting her make her own mistakes, was your idea. And it was a good one. She's learned how to make the right decisions, take responsibility for her own actions." She patted the other woman's hand. "We just have to keep doing that."

"But some mistakes have . . . bad consequences. I mean, look what happened to us sixteen or so years ago."

"And look at us now." Jinx sighed. "I'll agree that this past week she hasn't been the person she was, but that's normal." Raven gave her a look. "Okay, okay. She isn't normal. But then neither are we." Jinx held up a hand to forestall her wife's remark. "I'm worried, too, Sweets. Honestly. But there's no sense in stressing ourselves out about it. Especially after how we've raised her. If she has a problem she feels she can't handle, she'll come to us. She knows we won't judge her."

"Yeah, Cats, you're right," Raven agreed, a little reluctantly. "I can't help but worry about her, you know?"

"Of course I know," she replied. "What worries me more is that theft that occured last night."

"Who would go to all of the trouble of breaking into the First Jump City Bank without leaving a trace . . . and steal only one thing from just one highly secured safety deposit box?" Raven asked, sipping her tea. "None of the alarms went off?"

"Not a one," Jinx confirmed. "_I_ couldn't have pulled that off back in the day; not without leaving a trace of some kind."

"Does anyone know what was stolen?"

"Not a soul."

"Not even the bank manager?"

"The current manager has only been there for the past seven years. Whatever was in that box had been put in there about fifteen years ago or so."

"What's going on with Shadow?" Phase asked, collapsing onto the couch in the central room of the Tower with a loud groan.

"I don't know, man," Stinger said, dropping down right next to him. "She could've been more on the ball in practice today, though." He popped his neck. "She cut it awfully close when that one drone ambushed me."

"Perhaps she is still getting used to the training," Nightfire suggested as she drifted into the room. She wasn't as worn out as her teammates and friends - a benefit of her Tamaranian heritage - but she was still tired out.

"It's been a week, Nightfire," Stinger pointed out. "That should be plenty of time to get used to the . . . _intensity_ of it all. And didn't your dad tell us that she's already had some endurance training thanks to those monks she and her moms used to live with?"

"Well, yes," the girl admitted, "but could it not be that it is the pace of things that is affecting her?"

"That is possible," the dark-skinned boy admitted.

"I don't think that's it," Phase interjected. "Have either of you noticed that, during the past week, Shadow's been gone from the Tower in the afternoons? At least, every couple of days, that is?" Stinger shook his head, but Nightfire nodded. "Haven't you wondered where she goes?"

"I . . . yes," Shadow's best friend admitted, her shoulders slumping a little as she drifted to the floor. "Are . . . are you going to follow her?"

"No," he replied. "She may be acting different than usual, but she's still our friend. We'll still trust her, even if she doesn't seem to trust us enough to tell us what's going on."

Nightwing was shutting off his communicator when Cyborg walked into the room. The cybernetic ex-Titan was about to start his review of the day's training session when he noticed his friend's expression.

"What's up, dude?" he asked.

"That was . . . Batman," Nightwing replied, the split-second pause telling Cyborg that the distinction between his mentor's identities was important to whatever news he'd learned.

"Out with it."

"It's about the Joker."

"What's that wack-job up to now?"

"That's just it: he's in a deep coma in the Gotham Central Hospital."

"Say what?"

"Yeah."

"How'd he end up that way?"

"It wasn't Batman, though you already knew that."

"Some other vigilante or hero?" Nightwing shook his head.

"No one knows," he replied, "but he was beaten pretty badly. Looked like someone had also tried to cook him and freeze him at the same time.

"Damn, bro, that's some freaked-out shit," Cyborg said.

"Pretty much my reaction, too, though not as . . . eloquent," he told him. "He's got symptoms of unbelievably extreme heatstroke, and subarctic hypothermia. Not to mention every single rib is broken twice, every bone in his hands are shattered, his shoulders and knees painfully dislocated . . . the list goes on."

"Sounds like someone tried to kill him."

"That's the story the Gotham Police Department is running," Nightwing resplied. "They're giving enough detail for the papers to get the story right, but making it vague enough to draw several different conclusions."

"So what's Batman think?"

"He thinks, and after reviewing the evidence and reports he sent me I agree, that someone _didn't_ try to kill him."

"Well, they came pretty damn close."

"That was the point."

"Wait a minute," Cyborg interrupted, holding up a hand. "You mean to tell me that someone deliberately beat him to within an inch of his life? And from what you've told me that phrase is literal in this case."

"I mean exactly that," Nightwing confirmed. "It was a murder attempt that failed, or anything similar; it was, indeed, deliberate. Somebody wanted to punish him, maybe make an example of him. Whoever it was, whatever their reasons were, it was done in anger, maybe a blinding rage."

"You want to check out the scene personally, don't you?" his friend asked. "Get a feel for it yourself." The black-clad ex-Titan nodded. "Then go ahead. I can handle the training crap while you're gone; it's not like I haven't got help if I need it."

"Thanks, Cy."

"No prob, Rob," he replied, laughing at the sour look he drew from the vigilante hero.

Artemis was in the sleeper/dining car that she'd claimed as her home shortly after arriving in Jump City the first time. She was curled up, asleep, in the bed that was in the room she'd claimed as her own. There was a faint, unguarded smile on her face as she slept. It wasn't tainted in any way; it was the smile of the part of herself that she kept hidden from everyone - even herself. The equipment she'd used had been safely hidden away again - a task she'd done right after she'd gotten back - and her prize was safely locked away in the safe that she'd found hidden underneath her bed. This time, her sleep wasn't marred by the nightmares that usually plagued her. And although she would forget these dreams when she woke up, for some reason her new friend, Shadow, was playing a role in them.

**Chapter 4 Part 2 - Bad News, Deep Trust**

Cyborg was sitting in the control room for The Gauntlet training area he'd created. It wasn't a training day - being the weekend - but he was reviewing the team's performances over the past week. Though he was giving everybody equal time - and wasn't playing favorites with anyone - he _was_ giving Shadow's recordings a more thorough going-over than the others. And it seemed as though his hunch - and her mothers' concerns - were right: she had changed. Change was to be expected, in life was well as training, but what he was seeing was disturbing. She wasn't becoming brutal or sadistic in any way - which would have been a _big_ worry - but she _was_ becoming more reckless, taking chances that put the rest of the team at risk. The individual practice sessions showed the same trend; she was taking chances she didn't need to take, that had little gain for the risk involved. It _did_ put him in mind of Jinx, back when she was with the H.I.V.E. 5, but that wasn't a particularly heartening thought. Sitting back in his reinforced chair, he steepled his hands in thought. _I know that Raven and Jinx need to be told_, he thought, _but should I talk to Shadow first about this? I_ am_ supposed to be in charge of training, and this _is _a problem I should deal with._ He sighed, and stood up. _I'll let Raven and Jinx know, and see what their thoughts are about the next step to take._

Shadow was at the mall again, sitting at a table in the food court and eating a jelly-filled pastry and sipping a cup of herbal green tea. Though they didn't have a way to talk to each other - yet - but they had agreed to meet at the mall whenever they wanted to hang out. Even though they both knew that Shadow could teleport to Artemis's home whenever she wanted, she hadn't done so because she didn't want to be rude and just show up with no warning.

"You know your hair stands out, right?" someone said behind her. Turning around, she saw Artemis standing there with her usual smirk.

"Have you looked in a mirror?" she retorted. "_Your_ hair can be seen a mile away."

"At least mine can't be seen at night!"

"At least mine doesn't make me look like a foreign cartoon character!"

The two girls glared at each other for a moment before breaking out in laughs. When Shadow stood up, they hugged each other in greeting. Then Artemis went to go get herself some nachos and a soda. When she'd gotten her food and sat at the table, Shadow asked, "So, how do you get the money you'd need to pay for that?"

"Borrowed it," the blue-haird girl said around a mouthful of nachos, drawing a frown from her friend. "Really. I . . . well, I took a credit card from my father when I left. I'm sure it doesn't have much left on it, so I'll need to figure something out then."

"Do you need any help?" the pink/black-haired girl asked. Artemis nearly choked on her drink. Coughing, she had to take a few moments to catch her breath.

"S-say what?" she said hoarsely.

"Do you need any help?" Shadow repeated, confused. "Is there something wrong with offering help?"

"Not at all," Artemis reassured her. "It's just that . . . . well, no one's ever offered to help me before, much less _wanted_ to. You just . . . surprised the hell of me, that's all."

"No one?" To say that the fledgling Titan was shocked was a _major_ understatement. "Not even your parents?"

"Well, my mom died when I was about eight or nine, and then my dad had me . . . and he wasn't exactly the nicest guy," she told the other girl quietly.

"Oh," was all she could think of to say.

"Don't worry about it," Artemis said, waving a hand to forestall any sympathetic remarks from Shadow. "He got what was coming to him," she added, too quietly for Shadow to understand, though she did her mutter something. She decided not to press it, because obviously Artemis didn't really want to talk about it.

"Well, I want to help you," she said into the somewhat uncomfortable silence. The blue-haired girl gave her a fragile smile.

"Thanks," she said softly.

"Are you sure about this, Cy?" Raven asked, putting down the D3 (Digital Data Device) he'd handed her. Jinx looked equally unsettled.

"Unfortunately," he sadly admitted. "I went over everything twice, once I noticed the trend. I'm sorry."

"This isn't like her," Jinx said quietly, realizing the irony of repeating her wife's words from the day before. "I mean, I know people can change - I'm a good example of that - but this . . . this like a major change in character. Shadow's . . . she's always cared about others, always wanted to help people."

"It's hard for me to believe, too," Cyborg agreed.

"It's that girl," Raven said, out of the blue. Both of them stared at her.

"Girl?" her wife asked. "What girl?"

"She's been hanging out with some blue-haired girl for the past week or so," she replied.

"How do you know this?" Jinx inquired.

"I followed her."

"But you've always been here when she goes to the city."

"I _do_ meditate, you know." Raven sighed. "I didn't intend to spy on her, just check to see how she was doing. And she was hanging out with a girl with blue-hair."

"It could be nothing," Cyborg suggested, though it sounded as though he didn't believe his own words.

"It's not, though," Raven replied, shaking her head. "Whoever this girl is, she . . . she's gotten Shadow to do some reckless things."

"Like what?" Jinx asked, a little apprehensively.

"Nothing illegal," she reassured her wife. "Just things like . . . jumping from one building's roof to another, dashing through traffic during rush hour, cliff diving-"

"Cliff diving?" the pink-haired woman asked, stunned. "Our daughter has gone _cliff-diving_?"

"Just that one time."

"Have you looked on her any other time?"

"No, but I have no reason to doubt that she's doing other reckless things." Raven looked at her 'brother.' "Thanks for telling us about this, Cy."

"Telling you about what?" Nightwing said, walking into the room.

"You're back," Cyborg said, stating the obvious. "What'd you find out?"

"Find out?" Jinx echoed. She looked at Raven. "Is something going on?"

"Yeah," he replied. "You could say that." Then he explained about the call from Batman, and his trip to Gotham City. Raven and Jinx were horrified when they learned about what had happened to the Joker. Then Nightwing explained that Batman had found a lead about whoever had done it - but he'd let his old protege follow up on it.

"I think it was peace offering," Nightwing said. "Trying to reconcile things between us after that . . . disagreement we'd had." He didn't say more; but then, he didn't need to.

"So what did you learn, bird boy?" Jinx asked.

"It was a meta-human," he answered. "One with the ability to manipulate the temperature of their own body and their immediate area. Someone who knows how to inflict pain. And before you ask, I _do_ have a name and a description."

"Well, spit it out, dude," Cyborg said.

"She goes by Artemis," he told them. "I hate to say this, but she's roughly the same age and physiology of Shadow, although she has somewhat pale skin and blue hair."

Three cups in the kitchen part of the room exploded.

Standing on the roof the warehouse where Artemis's home was, Shadow felt a shudder run down her spine. And right next to her, Artemis felt as though someone had walked over her grave - in a tank.

When Shadow got home a couple of hours later, she found her mama waiting for her on the Tower's roof. _I'm in deep trouble_, she thought, noticing Raven's stance.

"You know where I've been," she said without preamble.

"Yes," her mama replied.

"And you know who I've been with."

"Yes."

"You're not happy." Raven breathed in and sighed.

"Shadow," she began, "you know that your mom and I love you more than most people would think is healthy, right?"

"I know," her daughter replied. "I'm a miracle and a mystery wrapped in an irritating teenage package."

"That about sums it up," Raven agreed. "And you know that we've given you guidance and advice, while also giving you the freedom to make your own mistakes and learn from them."

"You think I've made a mistake, don't you?" Shadow asked, feeling crushed that _both_ of her moms might be disappointed in her. But her mama shook her head.

"That's honestly not for me to say, Shad," she replied, using her daughter's self-chosen nickname. "But do you know who she really is? And what she's done?"

"Should that matter? Look at mom."

"Your mom never beat anyone to within a literal inch of their life."

"What . . . what are you talking about?" Shadow had a sudden feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.

"Before coming here to Jump City two weeks ago," Raven said, "your friend Artemis beat the Joker so badly that he's still in a coma in critical condition. According to the medical reports, even if he survives the operations necessary to keep him alive, he won't wake up ever again."

"But . . . but . . . she . . . wouldn't," her daughter said, brokenly.

"Shad, there was evidence of severe heatstroke and extreme hypothermia in his medical report. _Simultaneously._ That doesn't happen in nature. Not at the same time, and certainly not on the same person."

"You . . . you have to be wrong."

"I've seen the reports - the _doctor's own reports_ - and I've looked at him myself. I don't even know how he managed to stay _alive_ for the week and a half it took for someone to run across him."

"Artemis wouldn't do that," Shadow insisted. "Not her."

"Why? Because she's your friend? Because she's so nice to you? Because she seems to understand you?" Raven asked gently, understandingly. "You want to know something? When your mom and I were dating, I became influenced by my father's demonic influence. It tainted my actions, cut me off emotionally from my friends and girlfriend, and eventually caused me to murder someone in cold blood - and enjoy it."

Shadow couldn't speak; this was something she hadn't known, that she hadn't been told before. She didn't feel mad or betrayed by her parents; hearing it now, she could understand why she hadn't been told before.

"It may have been Trigon's influence," she went on, "but it was _my_ fault. Nobody but your mom really trusted me. But . . . when Jinx tried to talk to me about what had been going on with me over those several months, and even about Brother Blood's death, I lost it. I threw her into through a wall. She was fine, surprisingly, but I didn't stay around to find out. I left."

"Why?" Shadow asked softly, entranced by her mom's story.

"Because I was horrified at what I'd done, and ashamed that I had so little control over myself. I went and hunted down my father in the dimension he'd been banished to after I'd kicked his ass when he used me as a portal to get to this dimension. Then I did to him what Artemis did to the Joker. But Trigon is a pure demonic entity; it was only halfway fatal for him. If he had died, I might have taken his place."

"But . . .you had a reason. And he was a demon, right?"

"Yes, to both," Raven confirmed. "But that's not the point, dear. The point I'm trying to make is that we are _all_ responsible for our actions, and must face the consequences of them."

"Artemis isn't like that," Shadow insisted again.

"I know what you two have been up to."

"You . . . you've been _spying_ on me?"

"No."

"But you just said-"

"I know. I was meditating, and I decided to check on you with my soulself. And I saw everything the two of did that one day."

"Only one day?"

"As I said, it wasn't intentional. And after that, I didn't do it again."

"Why not, if you'd already done it once?"

"I trusted you," Raven told her. "I still do. Which is why I'm the only one out here right now. Everyone else wants to talk to you about this, even your mom, but I told them that it should just be me."

"I can understand why, too," Shadow replied, drawing a smile from her mama. "So, what now?"

"That's up to you, Shad. As far as your friendship with Artemis goes, all I have to say is that you need to be the better influence. If you want to come on in, no one is going to confront you about her. But your actions during training and practice sessions will have to be discussed."

"If? You mean, you're not going to force me to come inside?"

"Shadow, don't make me repeat myself," Raven said with a smile.

"Trust and respect," her daughter said. "You've given those to me my whole life. You've given me the freedom I need to make my own mistakes. You never shielded me from the consequences of my actions, even if you knew what would happen."

"And we're not going to stop - or start - now. And don't ask me what I would do; don't base your decision on what any of us would do."

"I . . . I think I need to see Artemis again," she said. "I don't know if I can . . . if I . . ."

"Can face everyone else right now?" her mama finished for her. She nodded. "Then go ahead, if that's your decision. But you should know that we'll always be here for you. We're your family."

"I know, mama," Shadow said, stepping closer to her and giving her a big hug - which was returned.

"Don't confront her about it," Raven told her as they broke off the hug. "Let _her_ tell _you_ about it. We only know what she did and how she did it; we don't know why."

"Yes, mama. I . . . I love you, mama."

"I love you, too, Shadow."

**Author's Note:** And that's it. The end of the special 2-part chapter. I know the ending was kinda sappy, but that's how it turned out. To be honest with y'all, this chapter turned out _nothing_ like I'd originally planned when I started those first two paragraphs. But I can't say I'm disappointed with it. Now, if you've made this far, and are reading this Author's Note right now, then there's only one more thing for you to do: review it.

Please?


	6. Chapter 6

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for later chapters.

**DISCLAIMER II:** I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself.

**Author's Note:** I'm glad you guys are really liking this story. It's a lot of fun to write this. I would appreciate some reviews from those of you reading this. Also, I am really sorry about the long delay in updating this story; my flash drive was missing for several days and at that time I had no back-ups. _That_ situation has now been remedied (not that I plan on losing my flash drive again, but better safe than sorry).

**Chapter 5 - The Teen Titans Are Back**

Shadow didn't teleport straight back to Artemis's 'home;' instead, she flew there. She needed time to think about everything. Her friendship - and strange connection - to the blue-haired meta-girl, and the information her mama had just given her. She knew her mama wouldn't lie to her (not tell her something for whatever reason, but never lie), but it seemed hard to reconcile what she had just been told with the girl she'd been hanging out with for the past several days. Artemis was a thrill-seeker (though jumping off the tallest building in Jump City _had_ been fun), she'd always been so nice and friendly towards her. She'd never said anything about her life before coming to Jump City, but Shadow hadn't pressed her about it because she wanted to be a good friend. _Perhaps_, she thought, _a good friend _would have_ asked._ Well, now she would ask. She did remember what her mama had told her, and wouldn't force the issue; but she _would_ make sure it was talked about.

Raven found the others waiting for her when she walked back into the Tower's common room. Judging from everyone's expressions, she knew they expected Shadow to be with her. She just smiled enigmatically and headed to her room, with Jinks - a stern yet curious look on her face - following just behind her.

"You think Raven's in trouble?" Lavender asked, a little concerned.

"Back in our Titans days, I'd say yes," Changling said. "But now?" He shrugged.

"They were gone for ten years," Cyborg told the purple-haired woman. "And a few odd months. We don't know what went on during that time, since they haven't shared the details with us. We respect that, of course. They'll tell us when they're ready. Sure, we've been around them and all for nearly five years now, but they are pretty different from the two young women we knew."

"Y'all notice that they haven't exactly done any superheroing?" Bumblebee said abruptly. Everyone looked at her. "Think about it; since they showed up five years ago, they haven't really fought crime on their own. Sure, they've helped out if we asked for it, but they haven't been proactive heroes."

"What are you getting at?" Nightwing spoke up.

"What I'm getting at, bird-boy, is that something needs to be done," she retorted. "I've known them almost as long as you guys, and that fact seems way out of character for the two of them."

"She has a valid reasoning," Starfire agreed. "This does not seem like our friends at all."

Shadow landed outside the warehouse were Artemis lived almost an hour after she'd flown away from the Tower, but she didn't go in right away. Instead, she stood out there, staring at the dilapidated building, feeling . . . she didn't know what she was feeling right then. She was feeling a swirl of emotions, from hurt to betrayal to anger. That was another reason she'd chosen to fly; with this emotional confusion swirling around inside of her, she didn't know if her control over her powers was stable enough teleport. _Which makes me more like mama than mom_, she thought, _although mom says that isn't a bad thing._ Sighing, she knew that further delay would only make things worse, so she walked into the building.

"Did you give her 'The Talk'?" Jinx asked, when she and Raven were alone in their room.

"I gave her the 'we trust and respect you' talk," the half-demon replied. Jinx grinned.

"That's 'The Talk,' alright," she agreed. She walked up behind her wife and wrapped her arms around her as she sighed.

"Do you think we're too lenient on her?" Raven asked quietly, leaning into her wife's embrace.

"I suppose some people would say that," Jinx replied. "Some people would also say we're being too stict, or irresponsible, or a bunch of other shit. We're raising Shadow our way, working from our own experiences growing up."

"I really didn't have much of a family, remember?"

"So? You're working from that by giving our daughter more of a family than you had. I didn't have much of one, either, if you'll recall." Jinx hugged her tighter. "Because neither of us really had a family, we really didn't know what we were missing until we began making friends. Then we found each other, and discovered love."

"We also learned that it wasn't easy," Raven commented.

"The best things never are," Jinx replied. "Knowing what both of us went through, I'm surprised we haven't smothered her completely. But we became who we are by making our own mistakes and learning from them, so we decided to raise Shadow that way - but we also made sure she knew we were there for her if she needed us."

"This isn't going to be easy for her, you know. This Artemis girl has become, from what I gather, a good friend to her. When the truth comes out between the two of them, and it will, Shadow's going to be so hurt."

"All we can do is be there for her, Sweets. We can't, and won't, shelter her."

Artemis looked up as Shadow walked into the 'converted' train car. That, more than the expression on the other girl's face and the language of her body, told the blue-haired girl that something very 'not good' was going on.

"I, um, don't think you've walked into here since, you know, the first time I showed you here," Artemis said, a little nervousness creeping into her voice. Shadow just came in and sat down near her, not saying a word. Her silence, though, told her friend a lot.

"So you know, then," she said, head bowing down.

"I don't know your side," Shadow replied.

"Would it matter?" Artemis said a little bitterly.

"You're my friend; why wouldn't it matter?"

"Because you're a 'good guy,' remember? Order and justice and all that."

"You make being a hero sound like it's a bad thing."

"Like you don't agree."

"I don't, Artemis," Shadow said, a little hurt. "Why don't you tell me what happened?"

"You really want to know?" Artemis snapped. "Really? I'm sure you already know what happened. So why don't you just skip to the 'I know we're friends, but you did bad and need to accept responsibility for it' speech?"

"Because I don't know how to give that kind of speech," she replied. "All my life, my parents have let make my own mistakes, take responsibility for my actions. They did guide me, and punish me when I deserved it, but for the most part they treated me almost like an adult. I could go to them for anything, becaue I knew they wouldn't go all 'parental' on me." She sighed. "Artemis, you let me into this place, into your 'safe' place, because you trusted me. I'm pretty sure that what you've got to say will hurt and shock me, and could probably drastically alter our friendship, but it needs to be said if we're really friends."

Artemis was silent for a while - a long while. She was thinking about her friend's words; all of them. She'd never had a friend like this before - or at all. A friend who was honest about the nature of their relationship, as well as the possible outcome of 'bad' news. Shadow was right, though; the air between them needed to be cleared. After all, she knew the other girl's 'secret.'

"Fine," she said softly. "You want to know why I literally beat the Joker to within an inch of his life?"

"You mean you weren't trying to kill him?" Shadow asked, surprised.

"No. The bastard used to mean a lot to my mom, so I left him alive - barely - out of respect for her memory."

"I'm sorry."

"Not as sorry as he was, just before he lost consciousness. Not that I believed him; he was a psycopath who thought everything was a joke - even it was only to him."

"So what happened?"

"I won't give you an autobiographical accounting of everything," Artemis said, looking at the other girl, "but when I was ten years old, he came and murdered my mother right in front of my eyes. Right before he knocked me out and kidnapped me. For the next year, he tortured and abused me, injecting only he-knew-what into me, warping my mind. I don't know about my soul, but I think it's a little twisted, too. My memories became a fuzzy and ambiguous. I guess I was already a metahuman, since my powers 'awakened' during that time. From the day of my eleventh birthday until just a few days before I beat the shit out of him, I became his twisted protege. I never actually killed anyone, though he did. There was Batman to avoid, but I became pretty good at that." She drew in a shuddering breath, her eyes filled with tears at the horrors she had endured. "I broke into a police station one night, and found records pertaining to the murder of Harley Quinn. I stole them so I could read them when I had the time."

"And that's when all of your memories cleared up?" Shadow asked gently.

"Yeah. The report mentioned she'd had a daughter who had vanished the day she was murdered. The description of 'Hayley Quinn' matched how I'd looked at the time, before whatever the Joker did to me altered my hair color. The records made no mention of a father, but I'd gotten an idea. I managed to get a sample of the Joker's blood, and tricked a hospital into comparing it to mine. It was a match. The Joker was my father. And he'd gleefully murdered the one person who had ever meant anything to me. Everything from that night was crystal clear in my mind. My mother had never told me who my father was; the only reference to him she'd make when I asked was that while she still loved him, she couldn't let him know I existed. And I'd learned why."

"Shit," was all the other girl could say.

"Yeah, pretty much," she agreed. "l'm not a 'good guy' and I never will be. After I managed to get over my shock that the man who had tortured and warped me these past four or so years was my biological father, and that he had murdered my mother just as a joke, I went back to his hide-out . . . . and 'told' my own joke. I guess I wasn't much of a comedian, because he wasn't laughing. But it _was_ a rather long joke; took me three days to tell it."

"You . . . you tortured him for . . . for _three days_?" Shadow asked. "But that's . . . that's-"

"Cruel? Psychotic? Evil?" Artemis interrupted. Her expression darkened. "That fucking son of a bitch tortured and abused me for _four fucking years!_ Three days was nowhere near enough to pay him back for what he'd done to me - _and_ to my mother!"

"I'm just trying to understand!" she snapped back, feeling hurt.

"How could _you_ understand?" the blue-haired girl growled. "You've had a perfect life! You didn't lose your mom! You weren't used and twisted by a psycotic clown-themed monster! So how the _fuck_ could _you_ understand?"

"Artemis . . . "Shadow tried to say, only to be cut off.

"Just shut up!" Artemis yelled, tears falling down her face. "Shut up! Shut up and go! GO!"

Tears streaming down her own cheeks, Shadow stood up and, looking at her ex-friend one last time, teleported home.

Shadow had teleported straight to her room, but she knew that both of her parents knew she was back. Just as she also knew that they knew she wanted - needed - to be left alone for now. She walked over to the desk that was next to her queen-sized round-shaped bed and picked up the pentagon-shaped mirror laying on it. Her mama, Raven, had shown her this technique. She'd said it was a good way to get to know yourself, as well as to work out how you're feeling about things. Taking a small breath, she 'fell' into the mirror.

_"Shadow!" Happy exclaimed upon seeing her, throwing her arms around the girl. "Wait. You're sad. Why are you sad?"_

_"Because we're upset at what Artemis did," Sorrow replied as she walked over._

_"Why?" Anger asked, following Sorrow. "We should just go back and kick the bitch's fucking ass! We didn't deserve to be talked to, or treated like, that!"_

_"What good would kicking her ass do?" Shadow interjected. "Would it change anything?"_

_"Of course it would!" Anger snapped (both her and Shadow knew not to take offense at her tones)._

_"It would make it worse," Sorrow groaned, plopping to the 'ground.'_

_"Where's Knowledge?" Shadow asked._

_"In her library!" Happy exclaimed, well, happily. "She wanted to read for you!"_

_"Read?" she echoed. "Read what?"_

_"She didn't say," Anger growled. "Humor locked herself in her room - from the outside. Dumb shit forgot that she put her door on backwards."_

_"Tone it down, Anger," she told her emotion. "I know she makes you, well, angry a lot, but take it easy, okay?"_

_"Fine, whatever."_

_"Are any of my other emotions having problems right now?" Shadow asked._

_"Well, not exactly," Sorrow said, her tone a little less mournful._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Well, Happy said she saw someone new a few days ago, but she didn't get a good look."_

_"Happy?"_

_"Oh, I did, I did!" the emotion exclaimed, clapping her hands excitedly. "Couldn't see what color her clothes were, because I only caught glimpse as she ran through my area, but I saw her!" The emotion jumped around due to her excessive happiness. "And Courage saw her, too!"_

_"She did? So where is she now?"_

_"Looking for her!" came the happy reply. "She said she is going to find this new emotion because she isn't scared!"_

_"So there's someone new in my head," Shadow mused, rubbing her chin in thought. "What does Envy think?"_

_"She's jealous," Anger said, smirking. "Keeps saying that the new emotion is going to be prettier than her and shit. Lust seems excited, though."_

_"I don't want to know why," Shadow replied dryly._

_"We're going to have to deal with Artemis," Knowledge said, teleporting into the area. "I was reading some psych books, among other things, and judging by her actions and attitude towards you, Shadow, she's going to go 'bad.' It won't happen right away, though, because she'll need to work up to that point, but it _will_ happen."_

_"Guess I better get back on the ball with my training, huh?" Shadow replied._

_"Damn straight," Anger said, speaking for everyone._

_A few months later_

True to her words to her emotions, Shadow threw herself completely back into her training - and her friends. Now, when training was over or it was an 'off' day, she went shopping at the mall with Nightfire (or sometimes they just flew around the city). She'd even play video games with Phase and Stinger - though she wasn't really interested in video games. Phase surprised her, though, by showing an interest in the gothic and emo stuff she was into - and would even trade his 'video game training time' to learn more about the poetry and history she liked. The next time she visited her emotions, she found a new one - though it wasn't the one Happy had seen before. This was called herself Crush and said, in what would become a typically shy and embarrassed manner, that she liked Phase. Shadow pondered this for some time, but didn't let it distract her from her training.

After the first couple of months of training, they began going out on 'training missions' with one of their parents. For the most part, it was simple stuff - robberies, theft, arson, and other 'normal' crimes. A couple of times, once with Shadow and Raven and again with Nightfire and Cyborg, they ran across a supervillain from their parents' days. They may have been trained by their parents, but they had their own styles - which the villains weren't prepared for. They weren't easy fights, though, but their 'guide' never had to intervene. Next, they began going out in pairs, working as part of a team. About six months later, just a few days before Shadow's fifteenth birthday, they were sent on a solo mission as a team. A new supervillain calling herself Pirate Princess - and her gang the Royal Crew - was causing chaos and havoc downtown. Though it was a hard fight, with the team getting minor injuries in the process, it was a victory for them.

And when they returned to the Tower, Nightwing gave them each their own communicator, emblazoned with the "T" logo that had symbolized the Teen Titans. And at a press conference the next day, the new Teen Titans were announced as the next generation of protectors for Jump City.

The Teen Titans were back!

**Author's Note:** I've finally finished it! The first pivotal chapter in Titans Forever is now finished! I apologize for the delay; my flash drive was missing for a while (though I've had it back for nearly a week now). This update was long in coming for a couple more reasons: 1) I had to finish the update that I'd started for my other on-going fanfic, **Special Tactics Squad 1-17** (I'd started it just before my flash did its Houdini), and 2) I've been sick the past couple of days. I'm feeling better now than I did earlier today, and felt better today than I did yesterday. So, if you're reading this right now - this exact sentence right now, and I _know_ you are - then you've read through the chapter.

Which means you are now obligated to review it.

Well? What are you waiting for? Review.

Are you still reading this? ;)


	7. Chapter 7

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M for later chapters.

**DISCLAIMER II:** I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself.

**Author's Note:** I'm glad you guys are really liking this story. It's a lot of fun to write this. I would appreciate some reviews from those of you reading this, since it does take time an effort to keep you fanfic mongers fed.

**Author's Note 2:** Also, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Echo of an Idiot. Get better soon, man.

**Titans Forever**

**Chapter 6 - Echoes of the Past, A Dream of the Future**

Shadow was sitting on the roof of the Tower again. It was her usual practice around the end of the day. Had been ever since her fight with Artemis. She was still hurting from the words her friend had said, which was odd considering how much time had passed since then. She thought she'd have gotten over the pain, but for some reason she hadn't. She sighed. _Maybe I should see if Phase wants to go see a movie or something_, she thought to herself. The two of them had been going out for the past couple of months, though she wasn't sure how she felt about him. He was nice, thoughtful, and eager to make her happy. Sometimes a little _too_ eager. Everytime she talked about him, and what he would do for her, her parents would give each other knowing looks. They'd get those looks a lot more when she would mention Artemis. She wondered what they knew that she didn't. Shaking her head, she looked out over the ocean, watching the sun begin setting beneath the horizon, casting orangish-yellow rays across the water.

"Would you like some company?" she heard her mama ask. Turning her head, she saw Raven standing behind her, a faint smile on her face. The slight breeze was causing the duster she had taken to wearing to flap a little. Smiling back at her mama, she nodded her head. When her mama had sat down beside her, she asked, "Why does it still hurt after this much time?"

"Because you trusted her a lot," Raven told her daughter. "Remember when I told you about the fight between your mom and I that had caused us both to leave the Titans?" Shadow nodded. "Well, when we met again a few months later, your mom beat the shit out of me."

"Didn't you fight back?" her daughter wanted to know.

"No," she said, "I didn't."

"Why?"

"Because I felt that I deserved - needed - to be punished for the pain I'd caused her. Not just the physical pain, but the emotional pain. That pain was far greater than any physical harm I could have done her. I nearly died from the beating she gave me."

"Why would you allow something like that to happen?"

"I loved her," Raven said simply. "It hurt me badly that I had hurt her like I did. She wasn't in the mood for talking, because of all the pain and anger she was feeling. She did save my life, though. And sometime during that . . . that nothingness we found ourselves in, you were conceived." She looked over and smiled at Shadow. "You may not have known Artemis for all that long, but obviously you came to trust her a great deal during that time."

"Yeah, and look what it started doing to me," Shadow replied. "I started to draw away from the people I'd sort of grown up with, started being more reckless during training, and kept secrets from those closest to me."

"We all make mistakes, Shad," Raven told her. "It's what we do _after_ that's important. The right thing to do is to learn from the mistakes you've made, and move on. I don't think it was a mistake for you to trust Artemis. What _was_ a mistake, though, was her not trusting you enough."

Artemis stood outside the warehouse that had, for a few months, been her home. She didn't go inside, but neither did she leave. She did remember, though, what had happened the last time she was inside. She remembered how she'd yelled at Shadow, the only friend she could remember having. How she'd forced her to leave - how she'd hurt her. But the blue-haired girl still felt angry about what had been said between them. It had seemed like Shadow was judging her, condemning her for her actions.

It had also seemed like she didn't understand or didn't _want_ to understand.

So she'd driven away her only friend, and now was back to . . . . Artemis didn't know what she'd come back to do. But she knew she had to make Shadow pay for her lack of trust, of faith. A smirk began making its way onto her face. _Perhaps I can get some help_, she thought. _Maybe someone - or some_ones_ - from the days of the original Teen Titans._

A few days later, several disturbing reports reached Titan Tower. Some of the villains that had been imprisoned at the end of the battle with the Brotherhood of Evil had been broken out - and had promptly disappeared. Some high-tech devices had also been stolen from the Jump City Technological Innovations Lab.

"This is not good," Changling said after Nightwing had finished explaining everything to everyone.

"Cinderblock, Mammoth, Gizmo, _and_ Billy Numerous gone from prison?" Jinx said. "Someone's got some kind of vendetta or something going."

"What makes you say that?" Bumblebee asked.

"Mammoth and Gizmo used to be my buddies back before I left the H.I.V.E. Five," she replied. "Cinderblock isn't too bright, like Mammoth, but he packs a lot of physical strength. And Billy Numerous is kind of weak if you ignore his ability to multiply himself."

"She has a point," Raven added. "Mammoth and Cinderblock have brute strength, Billy has numbers, and Gizmo has brains - although that is somewhat in doubt. And don't forget the equipment stolen from Technological Innovations."

"With the gear that was stolen from there," Cyborg said, rubbing his chin in thought, "Gizmo could easily build himself the tech he had back in the old days. Except, of course, it would be up to date and probably more lethal."

"All good points," Nightwing said. He looked at the Teen Titans. "Jump City is your jurisdiction now, kids. We'll help you out, of course. Starting with details about the villains."

"This'll be tough, won't it?" Stinger asked.

"Extremely," his father replied.

"Can we actually handle it?" Shadow asked. "Are we ready to face down supervillains?"

"I believe so," Nightwing said. "When we started out, only two of us had been trained as heroes, really: Changling and myself. All four of you actually have the training that we didn't at first. And not only that, you grew up knowing each other, and for the past several months - almost a year now - you have trained and worked together as a _team_. We had to learn as we went."

"But that doesn't mean we can take it easy," Phase said.

"No," Lavender agreed. "But it does mean that you have better chances than any of us did."

The new Teen Titans' opportunity to test themselves out against supervillains came much sooner than anyone had expected; just three days after hearing the news. Calling themselves the 'Anti-Titans,' the four escaped villains were attacking downtown Jump City - for no apparent reason. Shadow teleported the four of them to the area, though it was a little tiring for her; she'd never tried teleporting so many people over such a distance before. But she was quick to recover, which was fortunate; she had to duck a four-door sedan that was on its way to meet her head. With Stinger shouting, "Titans, go!" they moved to subdue the 'rampaging' villains. Shadow immediately paired herself up with Cinderblock, while Nightfire hammerfisted Mammoth into a pop-fly that had him punching through the street into the sewer below. Stinger began a 'tech-versus-tech' battle with Gizmo, lasers and spinning discs flying between the two of them, while Phase frustrated Billy Numerous by getting the various copies to knock each other out. Shadow flung a hex bolt at a manhole cover, causing it to buckle up underneath one of Cinderblock's feet, throwing the massive supervillain off-balance enough for her to hit him with a blast of 'demon' energy. The big, blocky metahuman hit the ground with an aftershock-like impact, groaning for a moment before trying to get back up. Shadow looked around to see if her friends needed her help. Nightfire was swinging Mammoth around in mid-air as fast as she could. When she released him, she realized he was heading right for her 'sister.'

"Shadow!" she shouted out. Shadow looked, saw Mammoth flying towards her, and reached out with her demon powers. She picked Cinderblock up and threw him into Mammoth's trajectory. The two hit with a somewhat sickening _thud_ before falling to the ground unconscious. Stinger and Phase were both having some trouble with their respective opponents, though neither was in danger of losing.

"Do you think we should help the boys?" Shadow asked Nightfire as the half-tamaranian landed beside her.

"They look like they have it, but I don't think they wouldn't appreciate any help," she replied. She took off, but as Shadow made ready to follow her, she felt a hand on her back.

"Surprise, Shadow," came a familiar voice. Before the Titan girl could even turn her head, she felt an intense and explosively painful burst of cold seize her lungs, freezing the air inside. Unable to breathe properly, she collapsed to the ground as consciousness began leaving her. Finally turning her head, she fixed her swiftly fading gaze upon the person who had been behind her. "Ar-te-mis," she breathed out as her vision faded away.

Nightfire just happened to look behind her to see how close Shadow was when she saw her sister sprawled across the sidewalk. "Shadow!" she screamed, reversing direction and flying swiftly to her fallen friend. Dropping to her knees beside the gray-skinned girl, she touched her neck, feeling for a pulse. She found one, though it was faint. What scared her further was that Shadow's skin was nearly as cold as ice. She didn't understand what had happened, or who could have done this, but she didn't need to right then; all she was concerned about was getting Shadow back to the Tower so she could be saved. Picking the other girl up, Nightfire activated her communicator with her other hand and said, "You two will have to finish this up yourselves; Shadow's been badly hurt." Then she flew off as fast as she could, making sure to keep a tight enough grip on her friend so she wouldn't drop her.

When Nightfire arrived back at the Tower, it was just in time to find Jinx rushing out of the roof access. She swiftly landed, and handed her friend over to her mom. "I don't know what's wrong," she said in a rush. "I thought she-" Jinx held up a hand to stop the fast-talking girl. "It doesn't matter right now," she told the teenager. "What matters is getting her to the infirmary; Raven and Cyborg are already there, prepping it for her." With that, the two rushed off as fast as they could. They passed by Starfire and Changling as the two former Teen Titans headed out to help Stinger and Phase arrest the villains - and to bring the two of them back.

Cyborg and Raven, with the help of Lavender and Bumblebee, did all they could to save Shadow's life. They succeeded, though barely; her core body temperature had fallen to lethal levels, while she was simultaneously suffering asphyxiation due to her frozen lungs. The four of them managed to unfreeze her lungs and get her body temperature to a safer level, though it was touch-and-go for a handful of hours. When Raven finally emerged from the infirmary, she collapsed to the hallway floor. Jinx was waiting for her, and handed her wife a cup of freshly brewed herbal tea.

"Thanks, love," the dark-haired woman said in a grateful, though hoarse, voice.

"How is she?" Jinx asked, anxious and concerned.

"Alive," Raven answered. "Not out of the woods yet, but she'll live."

Jinx felt tears falling down her face from the sheer relief she felt. "How did it happen?" she asked. Raven shook her head.

"I don't know," she said, "but I have a suspicion that I'm going to keep to myself for now."

"Nightwing?" the pink-haired woman asked knowingly. Her wife nodded. "We'll talk about it later, then."

_Shadow stood upon a rocky landscape. Below her, the ground fell into a painfully deep canyon of red and orange rock. A strangely-colored sun - it was yellow-white with a blue 'halo' around it - dominated the late afternoon sky. Behind her, a crackling sound began to get louder as the fire was fed bigger pieces of wood._

_"It's a beautiful sight," she said to the person behind her. "I don't think I'll ever get used to that sun, though."_

_"You never know," her companion said. "You didn't think you'd get used to orange and purple plants, but you don't notice them now, do you?"_

_"Not really," Shadow admitted. "They do seem kind of normal to me after this much time. But I've been around that sun for the same amount of time and I'm_ still_ not used to it."_

_"Give it time, Shad," came the reply. "After all, who knows when we'll get back home - or even if we'll be_ able_ to go back home?"_

With a groan, Shadow opened her eyes to see her mom bending over her. She managed a faint smile, which was answered by a bigger one from Jinx.

"Hey, mom," she croaked out in a barely audible voice.

"Morning, my little bad luck charm," Jinx said to her daughter, tears gathering in her eyes. "I'm glad you're awake."

**End Note:** And that's the end of Chapter 6. I'll go ahead and tell y'all that nearly 95% of this chapter was done in the two hours (give or take) before I uploaded it. I promised Echo of an Idiot that I'd get it up tonight, and I was fortunate enough to find a creative groove that allowed me to keep my promise. Now, please review.


	8. Chapter 8

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M.

**DISCLAIMER II:** I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself.

**DISCLAIMER III:** The song "What Have You Done" is from the album 'The Heart of Everything' by Within Temptation and Keith Caputo. They own the song and lyrics, not me.

**Author's Note:** I'm glad you guys are really liking this story. It's a lot of fun to write this. I would appreciate some reviews from those of you reading this, since it does take time an effort to keep you fanfic mongers fed.

**Author's Note 2:** Also, I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Echo of an Idiot. Get better soon, man.

**Titans Forever**

**Chapter 7 - What Have You Done**

It took Shadow a week to recover from Artemis's assault. To be accurate, though, it took her a week to recover enough to leave the infirmary of Titan Tower. She still had some healing to do; after all, nearly suffocating and freezing to death because the air in her lungs, as well as the lungs themselves, had been frozen didn't do her health much good. Right now, she was laying in her bed, under 'orders' to keep her core temperature up. She didn't really like this enforced inactivity for several reasons. The one that kept running through her mind, though, concerned Artemis. She didn't know why her friend had attacked her, especially like that. She suspected that the jailbreaks, and the theft of those high-tech devices, had been engineered by Artemis. It was the 'why' that eluded her. According to her moms, everyone knew that Artemis had been the one to attack her. Nightwing was working with Batman in Gotham City, investigating any links between the girl and the still comatose Joker.

Shadow, of course, knew the link; knowledge that she hadn't shared.

Closing her eyes, she laid her head back on the blue and black pillow. _I know what everyone would say if they knew that I know the link - and had kept that to myself for so long_, she thought. _Mom and mama would understand, I think, but everyone else - from Nightwing to my friends - would probably be disappointed, in addition to feeling betrayed._ She knew that she should probably tell them everything Artemis had told her during their last meeting - before her disappearance and reappearance. But she couldn't bring herself to do it; it wasn't her secret to tell, even though she hadn't been sworn to secrecy about it all. _In spite of everything she's done, and what she tried to do to me_, Shadow thought, _I can't bring myself to betray her past. She's still my friend, even if it seems like she's become my enemy._

_"We haven't found anything yet,"_ Nightwing told his friends over the communicator. _"That's not to say that there isn't anything to be found, though."_

"Have you found anything at all?" Starfire asked, leaning forward a little.

_"Nothing concerning Artemis, at least."_

"So you've found _something_, though?" Cyborg said.

_"There was a murder about five or six years ago that has remained, and still is, unsolved,"_ he replied. _"Batman thinks it's unlikely it has any connection to Artemis, since she didn't surface in Gotham until about three or so years ago, but . . . ."_

"But what?" Changling pressed.

_"Well, I've got a gut feeling that says there's more to that murder than is apparent in the police records,"_ he explained. _"Something seems out of place about it."_

"Sounds like something that needs a little digging," Jinx noted. "I don't think anybody's hiding anything, if that's what you're thinking, bird-boy. You've got to think that Artemis isn't the girl's real name."

_"Of course it isn't,"_ Nightwing agreed. _"That is an angle I'm looking into. Right now, that's all I've got. Just wanted to let you guys know what's going on with the investigation so far, and to check in with you."_

"It is good to hear your voice, my love," Starfire said.

_"I'll be back as soon as I can, Star. Nightwing, out."_ The transmission cut off with a hiss of static and a chirp. Cyborg turned away from the giant wallscreen that also functioned as a tv and looked at the other adult Titans. "Well, guys," he said, "what now?"

"There's nothing we can do to help Nightwing right now," Lavender said. "Not on the current track his investigation is going, anyway."

"We can't let Shadow know about this," Raven said, "even though she probably knows it's going on."

"She still believes that girl is her friend?" Bumblebee asked incredulously. "After what she did to her?"

"Not to be the devil's advocate here," Raven said, an edge to her voice, "but we don't know why Artemis did what she did to Shadow. From her persepective, she might've had a good reason. Maybe not a valid one, but a good one to her."

"How can you say that? It was _your_ _daughter _that nearly got killed!"

"You don't think I know that?" Raven snapped, not realizing she'd started moving towards the dark-skinned woman until Jinx put a restraining hand on her shoulder. "She was unconscious for _three days_ while we all worked to save her life! I never left her side for anything!" Raven took a deep breath, trying to calm down. In spite of the harmony between her powers and her emotions, she still had to worry about losing control of her anger. "But we don't know Artemis's situation. We barely know anything about her."

"Shadow has to know something," Cyborg pointed out.

"She might," Jinx said, preempting her wife, "but no one is going to ask her."

"Why not?" Bumblebee asked, her hands on her hips.

"Because," the hex-woman growled, "I say so. If she was meant to tell us, she would have at least told her mama and I. The fact that she hasn't done so means what she knows is a secret."

"But it isn't her secret to tell," Raven added. "So no one is going to put her on the spot like that, got it?"

No one was happy about that, but they all nodded in agreement. After all, even now, no one wanted to get Raven angry.

Artemis was once again standing outside the warehouse she'd used to live in. She had a new 'lair' now, one that was more fitting for a 'villain,' but she still found herself coming back here. She didn't know why; she had abandoned everything connected to this place after her fight with Shadow. _A fight that I'd started and ended_, she thought. _Even though Shadow hadn't done anything to deserve being yelled at._ That thought led to what she'd done to her . . . friend? Enemy? Artemis didn't know what Shadow was anymore. She remembered touching the Titan, she remembered what she'd said . . . . and she remembered freezing the girl's lungs, trapping and chilling the air in them. Most of all, she remembered the look of shock and disbelief on Shadow's face when she had finally managed to turn her head enough to see her. Artemis shivered and wrapped her arms around herself from the chill that went through her, a chill that had nothing to do with the fall evening - and everything to do with what had happened over a week ago. She had felt an unaccountable rage back then, when Shadow had came to her about her past. She knew that her friend had just been trying to understand what had happened, even if it wasn't possible for someone who hadn't experienced it. She had still tried.

"And what did I do?" Artemis whispered to herself. "I threw it back in her face, yelled at her, hurt her. And all she ever did was be nice to me." A single tear gathered at the corner of one eye. "I was hurting, hurting so much. And I took it out on her. Her. The first person to ever be nice to me since . . . since my mom. And I didn't let the hurt, the pain, go. I kept it inside, let it eat away at me, let it twist and warp every memory of the times we'd had together until it all seemed like a plot to hurt me. And then something snapped inside of me and I sought revenge." More tears were gathering, and Artemis slowly (and unknowingly) sank to her knees. "I set everything up to where she would be where I wanted her to be, at the time I wanted her to be there, and . . . and . . ." A sob escaped her - and that proved to be her undoing. "And I tried to kill her!" she screamed as tears fell in a torrent down her face, and her body was wracked with breath-stealing sobs. For what seemed like an eternity, but was really only a few hours, she stayed there on her knees, crying and sobbing as all of the pain, fear, and sorrow she'd had bottled up inside of her ever since she was ten-years-old came pouring out.

When she finally regained control of herself, however fragile that control was, she stood up and wiped the tears off of her face. Staring at the building that was home to so many good and wonderful times and memories, she came to a decision. She knew the consequences of her decision, and what would more than likely happen to her as a result, but it was the only thing she could do.

In Titan Tower, the alarm for downtown Jump City went off. Cyborg, who Nightwing had left in charge of everything when he left, told the non-injured Teen Titans to go to their rooms and stay there until everyone came back. According to the alarm, and a report across the police radio scanner, a jewelry store had been broken into by a young woman matching Artemis's description. And she was still there. Jinx decided to remain at the Tower to watch over Shadow and the kids, and Lavender chose to stay to keep her company. So Raven, Cyborg, Changling, Starfire, and Bumblebee flew off to Jump City proper.

When they got there, the Jump City Police Department had sealed and evacuated the block. And Artemis was standing there just inside the shattered window of the jewelry store. Cyborg held out an arm to stop everyone from going foward, and looked at Raven. "Think you can find out what's going on?" he asked. She nodded, and slowly began walking towards the blue-haired girl. She knew without looking that her friends were ready to back her up if she needed it. She stopped about three feet from the teenage girl.

"You must be Artemis," she said softly, so as to keep their conversation between them.

"And you're Raven, Shadow's mama," she replied, just as softly. "I imagine you're angry with me, right?"

"I should be, considering what you did to her," the older woman replied. "But I'm not."

"You're not?" the girl echoed, surprised. "Why?"

"Because I know what it's like to act out of anger, to commit a regretable action against someone I care about," she said. "And I know you care about Shadow."

"I want to say I didn't mean to do what I did, but I'd be lying if I said that."

"She's alright, by the way. Still needs some time to get back to normal, but she's not in the infirmary anymore."

Artemis looked like she was about ready to collapse now, so great was her relief. "I didn't hurt anybody here," she told Raven. "All I did was break in, and wait for someone to show up." She hung her head. "I didn't show Shadow or the Joker any mercy, so I don't expect any."

"She still believes in you, you know," Raven told her. "She's hurt, emotionally, and is very confused about why you seemed to hate her, and why you almost killed her, but she never gave up on you." Raven gave a small smile. "Whatever went on between you two has stayed between you two. We-" she gestured behind her to her friends "-know that she's hiding something, that she knows something about you, but she hasn't said anything to us - and we haven't asked her."

"It's my story to tell, not hers," Artemis said, not looking back up.

"We know. And I know that if you had really wanted to steal from here, we wouldn't have known about it until tomorrow."

"I wanted to turn myself in," she replied. "To Shadow, even though I didn't know whether she was alive or dead or what." She finally looked back at Raven. "I suppose you'll do."

"You know what is more than likely to happen, right?" Raven asked her. Artemis merely nodded. "Alright," she went on. "Then let's go."

Changling had flown Cyborg back to the Tower so that he could modify a cell specifically for Artemis, one that would be able to handle her powers. She had told them about her ability to manipulate temperature, not only within her own body but in her immediate environment. She could also, she'd told them, alter someone else's temperature through touch - or if they happened to be in her immediate area. Bumblebee flew back with her husband, leaving just Starfire with Raven and Artemis. Not that she needed to. But Raven was her friend, her sister, so she stayed with her. However, she also got a feeling that the young blue-haired girl needed someone else there. It didn't take Cyborg and Changling long to modify the cell, so a few hours after they'd first gotten the alert, Artemis was safely locked away within her personal cell. _What_ they would do with her, they didn't know. There were prisons for meta-humans, and it an appropriate facility could be notified about the precautions to take, but no one made the call. No one even called Nightwing to let him know that she was in custody; after all, it was reasoned, his investigation was discovering a link between Artemis, Joker, and the woman murdered years ago.

And, of course, Shadow knew that Artemis was there, in the Tower.

When she woke up the next morning, she found her mom sitting on the edge of her bed. "Morning, mom," she yawned, stretching her arms.

"Morning, Shad," Jinx said, smiling. Shadow immediately sensed something off about her mom.

"It's about Artemis, isn't it?" she asked, though it was less of a question and more of a statement.

"She turned herself in last night," her mom told her. "She's in a specially-made cell in the Tower right now."

"And I can't see her."

"I . . . I don't think it would a smart thing to do right now."

"Because of what happened to me?"

"That's part of it, yes."

"And the other part?"

Jinx sighed. "The other part, Shadow, is that she's pretty distraught about you right now."

"Say what?" Shadow asked, not sure she heard right.

"She's feeling extremely guilty about everything that had happened between you two, and seems very fragile - emotionally and psychologically speaking, that is."

"And you think seeing me could break her?"

"I honestly don't know, dear."

"It seems like it's everyone's fate to suffer to some extent," Shadow said sadly.

"I will agree with you on that."

"So when can I see her?"

"Cyborg doesn't think you should see her at all. At least, not until we figure out what we're going to do with her."

"What do you mean?"

"She beat someone almost to death, she broke supervillains out of prison, robbed a techology research center, and nearly killed you. By all rights she should be in prison right now, until she dies of old age," Jinx said. "I tend to agree with your mama about her, that we should hold on to her until we can figure out her past and her reasons for her actions, but Nightwing may override us when he finds out we have her."

Shadow didn't know what to say; she was kind of in shock about what may happen to her friend.

"Your mama and I will do everything we can to get some leniency for her," Jinx promised, "but I don't know how successful we'll be." She patted her daughter's hand. "I've got to go talk to your mama right now, but we'll bring you something warm to eat for breakfast, then I'll see about getting you up to the roof to soak in some fresh air." Jinx stood up and left her daughter's room. Shadow stayed there; she would've stayed there, even if she hadn't been medically ordered to remain in bed for a few more days. She was thinking about Artemis, and the fact that she'd surrendered herself. She had feeling it had something to do with her, and she was determined to find out. However, there was another fact she was turning over and over in her mind: Artemis's future. Having had several days to think about everything, she knew why her friend had attacked her, and had tried to kill her. And she found that she didn't mind it. Was she hurt about it all? Yes. But she sort of had an idea of the kind of life Artemis had had since she was ten years old. She knew that no one would be able to handle anything normally after enduring what she had gone through. And she knew that if Artemis went to jail, which was more than likely if - when - Nightwing learned she was in custody, Artemis would never leave that prison until she died of old age.

_I can't let that happen._

Artemis's head snapped up when saw a flash of darkness and pink out of the corner of her eye. Looking over, her eyes widened in shock when she Shadow standing there in her cell.

"What-" she started to say, but Shadow held up a hand to stop her.

"We don't have much time," the black/pink-haired girl said.

"Shadow, I'm so sorry. I . . ."

"I know, Hayley," she replied quietly. "I know I should have stopped believing in you, but I just couldn't. Especially after everything you told me that day."

"I shouldn't have yelled at you," the blue-haired girl said, her voice choking with sorrow. "And I shouldn't have tried to kill you."

"It happened," Shadow said. "All we can do now is move on."

"You mean . . . you mean that . . ."

"We're still friends."

Artemis threw her arms around Shadow and hugged her tightly. But not too tightly; she remembered that Shadow was still recovering from her injuries.

"What did you mean when you said that we didn't have much time?" she asked.

"Someone's going to know I'm in here with you," she replied. "My mama probably already does. And my mom will when she brings my breakfast to my room."

"The way you say that makes me think you had another reason for coming here, other than to see me," Artemis said suspiciously.

"I'm getting you out of here," Shadow said. The other girl's mouth dropped open in shock.

"B-b-b-b-bu-bu-bu-but-"Artemis stammered.

"Look, I know what your future is going to be if you stay in here," her friend said. "And that's if you're lucky."

"But you'll get in big-time trouble, Shad."

"I don't care; you're my friend."

"I don't deserve a friend like you."

"But you've got one."

About ten minutes later, the door to Artemis's cell opened, and the adults found only Shadow in the cell. They all looked at her with varying expressions, before Cyborg said, "What have you done?"

**Author's Note:** And that's the end of this chapter. I know it doesn't quite follow the song I've mentioned - and whose lyrics I've put at the end of it, but I was listening to that song when I got inspired to write this chapter. It really worked out, I think. And as said above, I've dedicated this chapter to Echo of an Idiot. If you've read this, then you better be giving a review. Trust me; I'm watching.


	9. Chapter 9

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M. I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself. The character of Shift is the property of DantesClover, and was created specifically for this story. The character of Vulcan is the property of Starbuck Viper, and was also created specifically for this story.

**Author's Note:** I'm glad you guys are really liking this story. It's a lot of fun to write this. I would appreciate some reviews from those of you reading this, since it does take time and effort to keep you fanfic mongers fed. Sorry for the long delay for this update. Had to find the time to work on it, plus I wanted to make sure I did it right, considering how the last chapter ended. Also, this chapter is dedicated to Echo of an Idiot, who is once again feeling very under the weather (if you want to know more, ask him, as it's not my place to tell).

**Titans Forever**

**Chapter 8 - Welcome To The Team**

There was only one room in Titan Tower that was capable of holding Shadow, and it was the same room that had been built to keep Raven safe during Trigon's return. Cyborg fixed it up to where it could only be opened from the outside, and then reluctantly put Shadow in there. Both Raven and Jinx were just as reluctant, but they knew it had to be done; after all, Shadow had not only visited Artemis, who had already exhibited a tendency towards heavy violence, but then she helped her escape. And what explanation did she have for doing something so unbelievably insane and out of character? Nothing more than, "She's my friend." Nightwing had been informed shortly after Shadow was locked in, and saying he was shocked was like saying the Grand Canyon is a crack in the ground. He said that, for now, all they could do was keep Shadow locked in that room until they could determine where Artemis had disappeared to, and why Shadow would let her go after what had happened.

Raven was sitting on the couch in the common room of the Tower, staring at nothing. Everyone had unanimously (and independently) decided to leave her alone, considering what had happened. Except for Jinx, of course. She sat down right next to her wife and looked at her.

"It's not your fault, you know," Jinx told her.

"I know that," Raven said, "but I still can't help feeling like I did something wrong or that I didn't do something at all."

"I feel the same way, Sweets," she replied. "But we did raise her to be independent, you know."

"I didn't expect anything like this to happen, Jinx," she told her wife. "Artemis nearly kills her, and she lets her go."

"We don't know what went on in that room," the hex woman replied. "We only know that Shadow was in there . . . and Artemis wasn't. We don't know what they talked about, either."

"She's changed a lot since we left that monastery," the gothic woman said softly.

"If you're thinking about trying to take her back there, I'll kick that delicious gray ass of yours," Jinx growled. When Raven looked at her with a shocked expression, she went on. "Leaving there, though hard, wasn't a mistake. Raising her as we did wasn't a mistake, either. I didn't really have a family growing up - until I met you that day in the cafe. And we both know that even though you knew your mother, you didn't really have a childhood because of the fears that the monks of Azarath had."

"That's all true," Raven replied, "but-"

"No buts," Jinx interrupted. "You sit on butts."

"You do more than that, Candy Lips," Raven said, smirking, causing her wife to blush hard.

Shadow was sitting in the middle of the darkened cell, floating a couple of feet off the floor in meditation. She knew that everyone had questions about what she had done. Her friends, especially Phase, probably felt very betrayed by her action. But, honestly, she felt like she and Phase weren't going anywhere as a couple anyway, though she did feel a twinge of guilt about breaking faith with everyone. But she knew what Artemis had gone through, which gave her an understanding about her friend's actions. And while she couldn't understand what the blue-haired girl had gone through, she could understand her actions because of it.

And then there was the guilt about her parents. She didn't have to be an empath like her mama to know that they both felt betrayed by what she had done. She really wanted to tell at least them, but it wasn't her story to tell. She sighed. She knew she could probably solve this quandry she was in if she could talk with her emotions, but the mirror into her mind was back in her room. _I'm sorry mama, mom_, she thought sadly, thinking about what her parents - especially Raven, her mama - were probably thinking about. She sensed someone's approach, and the feeling of focus, determination, and confidence told her it was Nightwing. When the door to the room opened, she opened her eyes and, looking at him, said, "I suppose this is the part where you ask me all of those questions about what had happened."

"Yes, it is," he replied, coming into the 'cell.' He sighed. "But the real question is . . . are you going to answer them?"

"All I can say is that I'll answer the ones I can," she replied. "Because there are some things I can't say because they are not mine to say."

"You mean about Artemis's past?" he asked. She nodded. "Well, then, we'll avoid that topic. For now, at least." He sighed rather heavily this time. "You do know how big of a mess you've caused, right?"

"Actually, it's not that big of a mess," she pointed out.

"And how is that?"

"All Artemis is actually guilty of is breaking into a jewelry store," she reminded him. "There isn't any evidence, other than what she told Mama, that she was behind the thefts and the assault by the new H.I.V.E. Five. As far as anyone can tell, someone may have broken them out of prison, but the attack on downtown was their own initiative."

Nightwing blinked in surprise; even though he was a detective, he hadn't considered any of that since the meta-girl had confessed to Raven. But what Shadow said was true. It could even be argued that Artemis's account was coerced out of her.

"You may have a point there," he grudgingly admitted, "but you still helped her escape. You broke the law, Shadow."

"I'd make the same choices if I could do it over," she said without shame. "I know what she's been through; you don't. I can't tell you - we've already agreed that I won't - but trust me when I say that what she did was rather mild compared to what she could have done."

"So she told you that she was responsible for everything?" he asked.

"She told me she was the one that attacked me during the battle against the H.I.V.E. Five," Shadow knowingly hedged. "She also told me that she attacked an empty jewelry store to attract the attention of the Teen Titans."

"So why did you help her escape?"

"She's my friend. I forgave her for almost killing me, since I knew what had - or may have - caused such an action. I couldn't call myself a Teen Titan - or a friend - if I didn't help her out. She's only guilty of breaking into a jewelry store; she didn't steal anything and no one got hurt."

"You've thought this through, haven't you?"

"I was laid up in bed for several days; thinking is all I could do." She smiled sadly. "And I know I'm in deep trouble for breaking her out."

"You think so?" Nightwing asked a little sarcastically. "I'll be honest with you: I don't know what to do with you."

"What do you mean?" Shadow asked, confused.

"You are a Teen Titan, and the daughter of two of my closest friends," he began. "But you let a super-powered criminal - and I'll agree with your point that all she did was break into a jewerly store - escape from her cell."

"So I'm dropped from the team, then?" she wondered.

"For all intents and purposes, yes," he admitted. "I'll let you out of the cell, but you'll be under house arrest. I know you can teleport just like Raven, so we're all trusting you to stay here."

Artemis had found herself falling into a black and pink disc - only to drop right onto the couch in the train car that had been her unofficial home in Jump City. Now, a day later, she still didn't know what to do. She had expected Shadow to drop in her sometime, but what had occured was nothing like she'd imagined.

"Shadow doesn't hate me," she whispered to herself. She couldn't believe it, but it was true. They hadn't really talked, but the other girl had busted her out of the cell she was in - and had probably gotten in trouble for it. _Why would anyone do that for me?_ she asked herself. _Especially her? I tried to kill her, and nearly succeeded from what I could tell. So why would she save me - and still be my friend?_ Artemis was really confused about that; living with the Joker for four years had really screwed up her mental state, though she had managed to start straightening herself out - until her past came back to bite her in the ass. She'd really overreacted with Shadow, she could see that now, and she felt crushed under a feeling that she soon realized was guilt.

"I hurt and betrayed the only friend I've ever had in my entire life," she said, slowly and softly. "And she is _still_ my friend. I tried to kill her, and she saves me." She looked down at the small drawer in the coffee table she'd put in the train car. Inside it was what she'd taken from the bank. From the private box belonging to her dead mother. According to the note she'd found with the package, there were other such packages scattered around the country. Each one containing the exact same thing. She opened the drawer, and took the box out. Opening it up, something she didn't do when she 'retrieved' it, she found a letter in it - addressed to her, and from her mother.

_"Dear Hayley,_

_It may be cliche, daughter, but the statement 'if you're reading this then I must be dead' is true. I had hopes that you'd never need to read this letter, but knowing Mister J as I do I decided to take no chances. I had to have a safeguard in place in case anything ever happened to me. I don't know how old you'll be if you manage to find this, but the person you've known as your mom isn't the person I always was. Once, I was a psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum near Gotham City. I worked with a patient known only as Joker. I won't go into the details, since they aren't important anymore, but I eventually fell in love with him - and kind of went insane myself. I became a villain, and worked for the Joker. I enjoyed such a life, though that may have been a part of my insanity. After many years, though, I began to regain my sanity - or perhaps it was my clarity._

_Discovering I was pregnant with you may also have had something to do with it. The Joker is your father. If you learned about this the way I think you probably will, then I don't pity Mister J. You probably gave him what he had coming to him. That may be strange for me to say, considering that I will always love him, but it's true. I want you to know one thing right now: no matter what Mister J may have done to you, you _aren't_ beyond redemption. I wasn't, and I owe that to you. I wish we could have had more time together, but I am happy with whatever time we did have. Inside this box are some phot albums containing pictures of our life together, from the moment you were born until the last picture I put in here. That way you won't forget me, or the ups and downs of our life._

_I also put in this box, and the others I intend to scatter across the country in different bank accounts under different names, a variation of the jester uniform - or would it be costume? - that I wore during my time working with Mister J. You can wear it if you want, though you may have to make some adjustments to it. I hope you won't take to a life of crime as I did. It won't pay off in the end, though my 'career' ended up giving me you. If you can, I hope you avoid the life of a super hero and/or super villain - though being a meta-human may lead you to such a life. Yes, I know you have powers. I had an old . . . friend, I'd guess you could call him, run some tests on your blood when you were five, which confirmed my suspicions. I don't know what powers you'll have, but I hope you will learn to use them well._

_Also in this box is a flash drive containing files about my life as a villain, as well as contact information for a variety of super heroes. Use them, or not; the decision is yours._

_I want you to know, most of all, that I love you, and I always will. No matter what path in life you choose to take, I will be proud of you. You are my daughter, and will be forever. Remember, too, that one day you will find the one person you can trust completely, who will always be there for you, and who will always forgive you, no matter what you do. I never found that person, but I have faith that you will._

_Your loving mother,_

_Harley Quinn"_

"So, are these the new recruits for the team?" Nightwing asked, turning to Cyborg. His friend nodded.

"These are the ones I thought would be good for the main team," he said, "since I believe you intend to fully resurrect the Teen Titans."

"That may be an eventual goal," he hedged, "but right now we need to develop this team." He looked back down into The Gauntlet. "So, give me the run-down."

"Okay," Cyborg replied. "First, we have Shift. Real name is Rebecca Dale. She's sixteen, which makes her the oldest member of the team now. Her power is somewhat unique; I'd call it tech-morphing, for lack of a more accurate term."

"Tech-morphing?" he echoed.

"She has the ability to touch a piece of any inorganic material and morph it into a weapon - on her body. For example, she could touch a piece of metal and morph it into her arm as a gun or a sword."

"Okay, that's pretty impressive."

"As far as her personality goes, she's kind, accepting, and friendly, so she should integrate with the rest of the team rather well. She has a brother named Steven."

"And what about your other recruit?"

"She goes by the name of Vulcan."

"Vulcan?"

"Yeah, he's the ancient Romans' god of war."

"Kind of an . . . odd name for a girl to choose."

"It's what she gave me, man. Anyways, she's fifteen years old - and is a pyrokinetic."

"You're saying that her power is-

"-the ability to generate and manipulate fire," Cyborg finished. "And, yes, I am. She didn't give me her real name, although that may be because I didn't exactly ask for it." He looked sideways at his former teammate. "Though neither of them will replace Shadow."

"I know," Nightwing agreed. "But what else can we do? I know Shadow didn't exactly break the law, but she did bend it nearly to breaking."

"We all know that, even Raven and Jinx. And you _know_ they would've said something if they had a problem with your decision."

"She still wants to be a Titan," he replied. "I did take her off the team, but put her on probation until all of us can figure out what to do with her."

"Nightfire has already forgiven her, you know. I don't think Phase will ever completely forgive her, considering how smitten he was with her, and Stinger is willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, though she'll have to re-earn his trust." Cyborg nodded towards the control room's observation window. "I think our two members are done with their run-throughs, and judging by their scores they'll be perfect."

Nightwing took a look and was also impressed. "Damn good," he agreed, "especially considering both of them have admitted to self-training with their powers." He pushed a button on the control panel, which activated the PA system to The Gauntlet. "Congratulations, Shift, Vulcan. And welcome to the team."

**End Note:** Once again, I apologize for how long it's taken to get this chapter out. The next chapter will be a two-parter (just to give y'all a heads-up), so it'll take time to do - though hopefully not anywhere near as long as it took to get this one out. If you want it to come out, please read and review. I want to know what you liked about the chapter, what you didn't like, and so forth. Be polite, though.


	10. Chapter 10

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M. I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself. The character of Shift is the property of DantesClover, and was created specifically for this story. The character of Vulcan is the property of Starbuck Viper, and was also created specifically for this story.

**Author's Note:** I'm glad you guys are really liking this story. It's a lot of fun to write this. I would appreciate some reviews from those of you reading this, since it does take time and effort to keep you fanfic mongers fed. And I know it's been a while since I updated, but think about this before you complain: To keep the same level of quality you've seen to date, time and effort must be put into it; fast updates may mean poor writing. That said, I won't deliberately take my time every time, but I hope y'all will have patience in waiting for the updates to come.

**Titans Forever**

**Chapter 9 Part 1 - First Step to Destiny**

Shadow was, once again, locked back in her room. Only this time, she wasn't recovering from a near-death experience; this time she was, essentially, under room-arrest. Everyone knew that should escape from there, if she wanted, but after a week without a stir from her, nobody was sure if they should be on edge still or if they should just relax. Well, Raven and Jinx were certain - had been certain from the first day of her 'probation' - but nobody else was; not really. Nightfire, like her mother, always wanted to believe the best about someone. Cyborg was willing to give her another chance - especially since Shadow's 'arguments' to Nightwing were not only valid but true. Right now, though, the team - and their 'trainers' - were more focused on working their new members in to worry about her.

"I'm not so sure about this," Vulcan said skeptically. "I mean, I know you're the training instructor and all, but this seems a little reckless - even for me."

Cyborg chuckled. "I'm pretty sure you can handle it," he said.

"You do know that 'pretty sure' isn't the same as 'confident,' right?" she pointed out.

"It may seem pretty difficult, but we need to chart the limits of not only your powers, but your level of control with them," he told her. "Better to find out in a training environment than to wait until you're actually fighting a super villain, right?"

"I . . . guess that makes sense," Vulcan said hesitantly. "I mean, I've kinda done the whole hero bit already, but nothing like the Teen Titans."

"Yeah, about that," the former Titan said. "You mentioned it before, before I brought you in, but you haven't elaborated on it."

"Not really much to tell," she replied. "I was only, you know, my village's resident 'saviour.' Everyone looked upon me as some kind of gift or deity or something. That's one of the reasons I chose to go with you; I got tired of being treated like that. So I can create flame on my own, and manipulate existing fire. I know it makes me special, but doesn't everyone have a gift that makes them special?"

"I'm sure they do," Cyborg agreed, "but some of us possess gifts so unique that we stand out from everyone else. And, also, how we use those gifts. Not everyone with super powers chooses to become a hero." He smiled, then. "And not all super heroes have super powers."

"I bet it helps, though."

"Sometimes it does, sometimes it doesn't."

"So I guess I need to practice a lot, huh?"

"We all practice, train. And we don't stop training. It's not just because we're heroes, either, and always need to be in top form to handle whatever comes up; it's healthy, too." He looked at her for a moment, then grinned. "Alright, lecture over. Go run The Gauntlet again."

Vulcan stood at the 'starting line' of the randomized, bot-filled training room known as The Gauntlet. She had a general idea of what to expect from the last few times she'd run it - the first time being a solo 'performance run,' the other times working with one of her new team members (_That Stinger is pretty cute._) - she'd had absolutely no idea what it would throw at her each time. And this time would be no different. Taking a deep breath, she opened her eyes and looked ahead of her as she lit up her hands. "Go," Cyborg said, at the exact moment she sprinted out into the room. Almost immediately, a pair of bots sprang up before her in ambush - only to be taken down by a flaming roundhouse kick that literally knocked their heads off. Vulcan didn't stop moving forward, the kick done on the fly; when she landed, she tucked into a roll that allowed her to keep the momentum she'd started with. Unfortunately, she didn't have time to catch her breath before three more combat drones sprang at her. Reigniting her hands, she blasted the ground underneath and rocketed into the air; incidentally, one of the three drones was damaged by the debris from the exploding 'ground.' Flipping and spiraling in the air, she landed fast, her momentum causing her to skid backwards several feet. Pushing off, she sprang at the two 'untouched' bots. Clasping her flaming hands together, she mimicked holding a gun and blasted several dozen fireballs at them. Though somewhat fireproof, the high heat of the multiple hits - combined with their sheer kinetic energy - overwhelmed the bots' armor and smoke poured out of their pierced plastrons as her blasts melted and fused circuits and gears. _This isn't so bad_, she thought, right before three chain guns and five bots popped up out of nowhere and took aim at her.

"How's she doing?" Nightwing asked as he walked into The Gauntlet's control room.

"She's doing pretty good," Cyborg replied, looking at the displays and monitoring the computer's randomization program. "This is an endurance trial rather than a speed trial. According to the systems I have monitoring her power and usage levels, she has a high tendancy to expend a lot of energy each time she uses her power, which exhausts her quicker." He paused, then went on. "In the typical actions the team will most likely be involved in, that won't be too much of a problem. However, if they were to go up against someone like Slade or Brother Blood it could prove to be a liability."

"I suppose you've already got suggestions for improvement?" his friend asked dryly, to which the cybernetic former Titan grinned.

"Absolutely. I'll probably set up a 'firing' range for her to use to improve her accuracy and control, and maybe develop some kind of gauntlet or glove or something that can monitor and regulate her energy usage to maximize the efficiency of her attacks."

"I use a lot of tech, but that made even me zone out a bit." Nightwing looked at the main monitor screen. "Do you think she can go all out with her flame?"

"You mean turn into some kind of being made of fire? Or covered in fire?" Cyborg asked. "I don't know. Sounds kind of like something out of one of Changling's comics. It could be possible, though."

Artemis sat in a comfortably upholstered chair in her 'bedroom', staring at the open closet. The only thing hanging in the closet - in fact, the _only_ thing in the closet - was her mom's modified costume. According to the note she'd found in the folded outfit, her mom had made this alternate costume shortly before discovering she was pregnant. It exchanged the red for blue and the black for white. She found it somewhat ironic since her own hair was now permanently blue. _I don't know about that hat, though_, she thought. She was surprised to find that she was contemplating wearing the costume, but even _more_ surprised that she wasn't really all that surprised at the thought.

"But I don't know if I can be a hero," she whispered to herself - even though no one else was there with her. "I mean, after all the stuff I did after the Joker kidnapped me and . . . and warped me. I know I'm not mentally stable. At least, not entirely. But . . . after what I did to Shadow, I felt really guilty about it. I think my heart knew before my head did, but she had never done anything wrong to me. Certainly nothing that warranted me trying to _kill_ her." Sighing, she looked down at her hands, clasped together in her lap. "She's the only friend I've ever had, that I can _remember_ ever having. She only wanted to help, and I shoved her away - then tried to kill her. And after I turned myself in, she breaks me out. I knew she'd get in major trouble for that, and I could see she knew it, too. Yet she did it anyway. We only knew each other for about a week, at most, and yet she rescued me." Looking back at the costume, Artemis pondered everything. What her mother had told her in that letter (which was placed, folded up, under her pillow), and what she'd researched on her own, about herself. About Shadow and the 'life of a hero' she represented. As she stared at her mother's altered costume, she came to a decision.

"So you can morph any part of your body into a weapon?" Phase asked, impressed.

"Not exactly," Shift replied, popping her neck a little. "I need to be touching something - metal, wood, plastic - then I can morph it into my body as a weapon."

"Sword?"

"Yep."

"Club?"

"Yep."

"Gun?"

"Sure."

"What about-"

"When I say 'anything,' I mean 'anything,' Phase," Shift said.

"Have you tried making an armored suit or something?" Stinger asked. Shift blinked.

"You know," she said, "I never thought about that before. I suppose it could be possible."

Vulcan threw up a wall of fire that vaporized the first burst of rounds aimed at her, giving her time to duck under the immediate line of fire. What she hadn't expected was the fourth turret popping up right underneath her. _That_ threw her into air, incidentally helping her to evade the semi-accurate fire of the drones; chain guns were, after all, notorious for their inaccuracy. Generating a large fireball in each hand, she brought them together and _forced_ them to compress into one mass that was half the size of both of them separate. _Focus_, she thought to herself, building up the thermal and kinetic energy contained within the fireball as she soared through the air on her way back to the 'ground.' A grin spread across her face as she felt the ultra-compressed fireball in her hands starting to escape her control. "Time for a little pyro-storm," she taunted, yanking her hands to either side and causing the golf ball-sized fireball to shoot straight towards the ground. A thought hit her just as she hit the ground in a roll: _I hope I didn't overdo it._ And right after that, the little fireball slammed into the ground and eruped into a firestorm that would've made a volcanic eruption in the Ring of Fire proud.

In the control room, Nightwing and Cyborg had to duck as the superheated air blasted out the direct observation windows.

The Titan Tower didn't exactly shake from the force of the explosion, but the vibration definitely traveled through the entire structure. Everyone in the Tower reacted differently to what happened: the rest of the new Teen Titans started from the unexpectedness of it (until Shift pointed out that Vulcan was in the training room), Changling and Lavender looked a little concerned but continued helping Starfire and Bumblebee make dinner, and Raven and Jinx continued meditating together on the roof. Shadow, like her mom, had already sensed what had happened. The gray-skinned teen wasn't meditating like her parents were; instead, she was thinking about Artemis. The girl had felt lost, adrift, her emotions a chaotic swirl that seemed to pull her in different directions. _Probably from her time with the Joker_, she thought sadly. She felt an inexplicable connection to the other girl, one she couldn't explain. Nightfire was still her best friend, she hoped, but there was something . . . . _different_ about her friendship with Artemis. She couldn't put a finger, literal or mental, on what that difference was. She knew it was there, though, so that was a step forward. Looking over at her bedside nightstand, she reached for her mirror . . . .

_"It's about time you came back," Anger growled at her._

_"Alright! Let's go find something dangerous!" Courage shouted, punching the air. Happy just bounced around, happy that Shadow was there. Of course, Happy was always happy so the reason never mattered._

_"Everything okay in here?" Shadow asked._

_"There's someone new!" Happy exlaimed, well, happily._

_"Someone new? You mean a new emotion?"_

_"What else would she mean?" Anger asked. "It's not like we get door-to-door salesmen here."_

_"H-Hap-Happy is r-ri-right, though," Shyness murmured, looking at the ground and twisting a foot on the ground._

_"Alright! Someone new! Let's go after her!" Courage said. Knowledge shook her head at Courage's antics, then looked at Shadow._

_"We haven't been able to find her," the emotion said, pushing her stylish shade-like glasses back up the bridge of her nose. "Courage and Anger have found signs of someone new in here, and Happy has glimpsed someone going through her area, but no one's seen anything definite. Shyness thinks she may have seen her, but she isn't sure. Crush has disappeared, though."_

_"Why?"_

_"It's probably because you're no longer crushing on Phase," Knowledge suggested._

_"Where's Fear?" Shadow asked._

_"Hiding in her part of your mindscape. She comes out every now and then, though."_

_"Well, don't force this new emotion to come out. We need to let her introduce herself in her own time. Any ideas on what it could be, though?"_

_"I have several ideas, yes, but not the information to confirm or discard any of them."_

_"I have to go now, but I'll be back again later."_

**Chapter 9 Part 2 - A Blast From an Unknown Past**

The threads of destiny so often hinge on the tiniest of decisions, the ones that don't seem to mean much at the time they are made. An individual's fate is in their own hands, as each choice they make along the road of life forges the legend they will become. 'Legends are not born, they are made' is a phrase that is only true to some extent. A person only becomes a legend when others witness their actions and spread those stories. Everyone possesses within them the capability to become a legend, to forge a legacy of greatness. Heroes are so often the last ones to learn they are heroes, legends become legends after they are gone - although sometimes they become 'living legends.'

Nonexistent, though, are the legends who are legend long before they are born.

Three weeks after Shadow was placed on probation she was released from it and allowed back on the team. Nightfire, of course, was happy to once again see her best friend and gave her an almost-back-breaking hug, Phase just said hello and left the main room, and Stinger gave her a high-five and said, "Welcome back." Vulcan and Shift introduced themselves, Vulcan holding back to a cautious greeting but Shift going into 'hero-worship' mode and expressing her respect for the gray-skinned teen. Shadow held up a hand to stop the flow of words from the other girl's mouth.

"I'm just a girl like you," Shadow told her. "We're both Teen Titans now, so just treat me like a friend instead of an icon." She shuddered. "I _hate_ that."

"Oh, sorry," Shift replied, blushing. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"You didn't, since you didn't know," she replied. Then she grinned. "Have _you_ gotten one of Nightfire's hugs?" Shift's wince was enough of answer for the other girl, who laughed. "She _can_ be a little . . . _enthusiastic_."

"_Just_ a little?"

"You'll fit in just fine."

And just then the danger alert went off.

In downtown Jump City (why villains always seem to target downtown no one knows) a car was slammed to the side as what looked like a twister or cyclone made up of nothing but sand brushed by it at high speed. The car exploded in mid-air as electricity shimmered around and through it. The sand cyclone came to a stop outside of a bank and vanished, revealing two costumed teenagers - one wearing loose tan cargo pants, a black boonie hat, and a red short sleeve shirt while the other wore ripped and torn blue jeans, mirrored blue shades, and a white-and-blue long-sleeve shirt. The two stood outside the bank for a moment, before the shades-wearing one turned to his partner and said, "Dust Storm, go for it." The sand-manipulator grinned and morphed his hand into a giant spiked ball - made out of sand. He ran forward and slammed his 'fist' into the bank's doors, shattering them. Taser, as the other called himself, reached out and touched a car. Sending electricity through it, he turned it on and got it to move out into the road. He did this to a few other cars to form a blockade against police intervention, then started to follow his partner into the bank. He only got as far as the sidewalk before Dust Storm came flying back out.

"What the hell . . ." he muttered, right as a girl wearing a blue-and-white jester outfit stepped out of the shattered bank doors. Her hair was a deep blue color, and her face was wearing a satisfied smirk. "Just who do you think you are?" he snarled. "Don't know that nobody messes with Dust Storm and Taser?"

"'Dust Storm' and 'Taser," huh?" she said, chuckling. "Sounds like a really bad B-rated movie to me."

Dust Storm groaned as he sat up, then stood back up. "You're gonna pay for that," he growled, shaking his head.

"Sorry, I'm broke," she taunted, adding a 'bring-it-on' gesture with her hand.

Shadow teleported the Teen Titans - all six of them - to the bank where the computer said the 'disturbance' was at. When the 'shadow field' shrank away, they saw that someone else had already gotten there ahead of them and was already battling the super villains. Shadow almost didn't recognize who it was; fortunately, the blue hair was a dead giveaway.

"_Artemis_?" she said in shock.

"Hey, Shadow!" the girl called back, back-flipping out of the way of a blast of sand with the ease of an acrobat. "Nice of you to join the party!"

"So, who's the leader here?" Vulcan asked. For some reason, everyone looked at Shadow.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" she said, holding up her hands and taking a step back. "I'm not the leader! I just got let back on the team!"

"Just take the job," Stinger said with a grin. "Your friend needs help, and you're just standing there."

"Alright, fine, whatever," she growled. "Titans, Go!"

"Yeah!" Vulcan shouted, fist-pumping the air. "Game time!" She then sent a carefully aimed fireball at the Taser, forcing him to jump back from Artemis. Phase ran into Dust Strom, intending to knock him down, only to get a giant sand-fist coming at him. He phased his body, and the sand-fist went through him - and hit Taser as he dodged the fireball.

"Well, shit," the teen villain said, right as a burst of pink-tinged black energy slammed into him, knocking him backwards into the path of an exploding starbolt. He reacted by shifting into a sandy-form, although he lost some of his mass when the starbolt's heat and energy turned a bit into glass as it passed through. He moved to run away, only to cross into an area that was so cold he lost his concentration and turned back into his 'human form.' Shivering fiercely, he turned around to see the jester-girl standing right next to him.

"You're freezing? Seriously?" she asked with mock incredulousness. "In _this_ weather? It's gotta be at least eighty degrees!" Then, with a smirk, she flipped over him and kicked him in the head, knocking him out. She turned to see how everyone else was doing, and saw that one of the girls had shorted Taser out by connecting him to the metal cars in the area. She walked over to the Teen Titans as nonchalantly as she could, although she was rather nervous about being around them. Fortunately for her, Shadow eased the tension that had started to build by saying, "So you're a hero now?"

"Well, I wasn't ever really a villain," Artemis replied. "I mean, sure I did some things that were bad and probably broke the law before, but I never became a villain."

"Are you the one who hurt Shadow?" Nightfire asked, sorrow and hope in her tone.

"If by 'hurt' you mean 'tried to kill her,' then yeah," she admitted. "I . . . wasn't exactly myself then." She sighed. "I'm not really the most mentally stable person in the world, and a lot of things hit me all at once. So I overreacted badly and did things that I normally wouldn't have." She looked at all of the Teen Titans. "Shadow was the first person I could ever remember who was just my friend. Turning on her like I did . . . if I was a friend to her at all, I wouldn't have done that." The blue-haired girl half-smiled. "When I turned myself in to Raven, I will admit guilt at what I'd done was a factor. But it was mostly out of a desire to make amends for what I'd done to Shadow, and what I'd convinced her to do with me. And in spite of what I did and had almost done to her, she still helped me out."

"Breaking you out of jail wasn't exactly a legal way to help you out," Phase pointed out, a little hostility evident in his voice.

"It sure wasn't," she agreed, "but she _did_ help me out. I expected her to leave me in that cell, or to at least hurt me in some way for what I'd done to her, but instead she got me out of there - and got in big trouble for it, too. No one had ever risked so much for me in my entire life - except for my mother. And I gave everything that had happened to me throughout my life a lot of serious thought, and made a decision."

"You became a hero," Vulcan said, nodding.

"I didn't want to waste the second chance Shadow gave me," Artemis said, nodding in agreement. "And . . . it was what my mother had wanted for me."

"Well, since everyone's decided that _I'm_ the team leader," Shadow said, knowing that she would get a lot flak for this from quite a few people, "I say, welcome to the team, Artemis."

When the police had arrived and taken Dust Storm and Taser into custody - using specially-designed containment vehicles - Shadow teleported everyone (including Artemis) to Titan Tower. And, as she had expected, she got a lecture from Nightwing, Cyborg, and Phase but, surprisingly (to her), not from her moms. In the end, though, Nightwing put it best: "We may not like your decision, we may not agree with your decision, but it _is_ your decision. Since everyone's chosen you as the team leader, they'll just have to accept your decisions - provided they don't endanger anyone."

Because of the Tower's size, there were actually more living quarters in it than there were Titans living in it, so Artemis was able to get a room of her own - although she didn't get a badge-communicator yet. Even Shadow agreed that she had to earn it first.

And she would get that chance sooner than anyone would have believed.

It happened almost a week after Artemis had joined the team. During those intervening days, the team went on several missions, though never the entire team at once. Artemis was usually paired up with Shadow and either Nightwing, Phase, or Stinger (Vulcan and Shift, like Artemis, weren't full members of the team yet). Since Shadow had recruited her, everyone considered her the gray-skinned girl's responsibility. It didn't hurt that they seemed to complement each other rather nicely, a fact everyone noted but at which only Raven and Jinx would smile.

The first hint that anyone had that anything was going wrong was when one of the observation satellites Cyborg had put into a lagrange point between Earth and its moon (back in the days of the original Teen Titans) just exploded. It would have just been put down to equipment malfunction - except for the fact that it transmitted data to the Tower just before it was destroyed about a massive energy surge in the area (relatively) near it.

The second hint that something was going wrong was when an orbital telescope transmitted a fuzzy image of something unknown - right before it, too, went offline. By this point, all of the old and new Teen Titans had gathered in the Tower's main room as Cyborg tried to bring up any kind of orbital scanning system to help him figure out what was going on. Then the communications system came online, taking over the two-story-tall visual monitor dominating the room. The figure on the screen looked pretty vicious, with long fangs extending out and down from the upper mouth of his/its ape-like face. The tri-slit nose and quadruple eyes sort of ruined the ape-like similarity, though it had fur on its head that was similar to that of an orangutang. It spoke in some kind of gutteral, hooting language, with an audio English-language translation following.

"Inferior primates of this insignificant world!" it boomed; the imperiousness of the voice actually made it through the artificial translation. "I am Lord-Master Gishta of the Oodanga Empire of Stars! Your pathetic world is too far beneath our notice to be even considered as a slave world! I have come here, to this cesspool of a life-bearing rock, at the divine order of the Oodanga Empire of Stars' most powerful ruler, the Great Emperor Shitak! You will submit to my authority as I carry out my great task, or I shall destroy the offending population centers one by one!"

With that, the transmission ended, and everyone looked at each other.

"And here I was thinking I could have a break from all of the super hero stuff," Artemis said with a sigh.

**End Note:** And here it finally is. The promised update.

And I bet not _one_ of y'all saw that coming! :D


	11. Chapter 11

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M. I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself. The character of Shift is the property of DantesClover, and was created specifically for this story. The character of Vulcan is the property of Starbuck Viper, and was also created specifically for this story.

**DISCLAIMER 2:** The character Dust Storm was created by The Dude Person at my request, and the character of Taser was created by Tijames - also at my request - specifically for the previous chapter.

**Author's Note:** I'm glad you guys are really liking this story. It's a lot of fun to write this. I would appreciate some reviews from those of you reading this, since it does take time and effort to keep you fanfic mongers fed. And I know it's been a while since I updated, but think about this before you complain: To keep the same level of quality you've seen to date, time and effort must be put into it; fast updates may mean poor writing. That said, I won't deliberately take my time every time, but I hope y'all will have patience in waiting for the updates to come.

**Titans Forever**

**Chapter 10 - Titans Go!**

"A break?" echoed Phase a little mockingly. "You've barely anything 'heroic,' you know."

"Shut it, Phase," Shadow said quietly. "We're all on the same team here, and while fights will inevitably occur, there's no reason to be starting one now when we've already got a problem."

"Shadow's right," Nightwing said, interrupting Phase's retort before it could be spoken. "We've got an alien warship within the Earth's atmosphere, the aliens on it are hostile, but have stated that they won't cause any damage as long as no one fights them while they do what they came to do - which is something they didn't say in that broadcast."

"It seems to me that they aren't here to invade us," Stinger said slowly. "Considering how many heroes and villains there are here - meta-human and otherwise - not to mention the militaries of the world's many nations, one ship can't accomplish an invasion - no matter how powerful it is."

"You've got a point, son," Cyborg said, clapping a hand on his son's shoulder. "Judging by what that monkey-man _did_ say, I'd guess he's here looking for something - or maybe someone."

"Kinda like with Star all those years ago," Changling agreed.

"It's a possibility," Shadow mused, "but not the impression I got."

"What do you mean?" Raven asked her daughter.

"Well, it seems to me that he _is_ looking for someone, but I don't think it's like what happened with Aunt Starfire," she replied. "I don't think he's looking for an escaped prisoner. His rhetoric indicates something more important - at least to him."

"You don't think he'll destroy a city where a hero or villain resists their 'quest,' then?" Nightwing asked conversationally.

"Oh I don't doubt that he will. Which means our moves to stop them will have to be done very carefully."

Nightwing nodded, then smiled. "Well, I guess that settles it," he said.

"Settles what?" Nightfire asked, curious. It was obvious that all of the Teen Titans agreed, while the adult Titans (former) nodded in agreement with him.

"Shadow's the leader of the team," he said. It was impossible to who was more shocked: Shadow, or the rest of the team. Artemis, though, wore an 'Well, duh!' expression on her face, as though there was no other choice for them to make.

"Me?!" Shadow finally managed to say, getting over her shock. "Why me?"

"Because you've got the attitude, the confidence, and the ingenuity," Jinx answered. She held up a hand, forestalling her daughter's anticipated response. "We did take the incident with you getting Artemis out of her cell into account, as well as your behavior during your week-long friendship before everything snapped. No offense to any of you," she added, looking at Nightfire, Stinger, and Phase, "but she's the one best-suited to lead this new team."

"If any of you have anything to say about this," Nightwing said, "now's the time to do it; Shadow's right in that we've got to fight this, and do so carefully."

"I think it's wonderful!" Nightfire exclaimed, clapping her hands together and spiraling up to the main room's ceiling.

"I'm cool with it," Stinger said, nodding.

"I don't think it's right, considering what she did, but I'll work with it," Phase said reluctantly.

"So long as we get to save the world from being destroyed, I don't mind," Shift said. She looked at Shadow and added, "But if the world gets destroyed because your plan or plans fail, I'm not gonna be talking to you ever." Everyone laughed at that.

"She seems like she's got a handle on this problem, so I say let's go for it!" Vulcan shouted, doing a fist-pump.

"I think you people are finally thinking for once," Artemis replied with a smirk, earning a glare from Phase. She looked at her friend. "So, Shad, _do_ you have a plan?"

"Well," she said, making the word have four syllables, "I kinda sorta have a vague notion that could start an idea."

"Sounds like the old days," Raven quipped, earning a glare from her daughter and laughter from everyone else.

The pre-planning session ended a few minutes later, and everyone went to do their own thing while Shadow tried to come up with a plan for taking out - or at least driving off - the alien warship. Artemis didn't really know what to do, even though she'd been living in Titan Tower for a week at least. Phase had gone off to sulk in his room (he still resented her presence and blamed her for the ending of his boyfriend/girlfriend relationship with Shadow for some reason), Stinger was down in the garage with his father working on the Titan vehicles, the other three Titans girls (Nightfire, Shift, and Vulcan) were in The Gauntlet practicing, and Shadow had disappeared somewhere. After wandering all over the Tower for a couple of hours, and spending a couple of hours in her room thinking about the sudden turn her life had taken, Artemis wound up back in the common room - which as she'd found out also served as the Tower's command center. And that's where Raven was, as well. The goth-like woman looked up from her book and smiled at the teen.

"Come on and take a seat," she said, gesturing towards the couch. "In spite of what Changling sometimes says, I don't bite much." Artemis chuckled at the joke, and sat down on the couch near her best friend's mom. "So, Artemis," Raven said, closing her book, "are you nervous or just bored?"

"A little of both, I guess," she admitted somewhat hesitantly. "I mean, I know of been a probationary Titan for week or so, but it's all kind of unreal still."

"I can imagine," the gray-skinned woman agreed. "While it wasn't the same for me when the original Teen Titans were formed, I do know the feeling."

"You do? How?"

"It was during the return of my father, Trigon. Though I only remembered everything towards the end of that ordeal, after Nightwing - although he was Robin then - had literally risked his life and soul to rescue me and I defeated my father, everyone's acceptance of me after learning what they did about me surprised me. I was still dealing with Terra's death, but I'd begun talking to the others again by that point." She shook her head, smiling. "The point I'm trying to make is that it's okay to be nervous about everything right now. Don't dwell on it, just accept it. Understanding will come when it comes."

"Part of what is unreal is Shadow," Artemis told her.

"Oh? How so?"

"Well . . . . I mean, she's . . . different from everyone I've ever known. Not that I've known many people, but still. We were only friends for a week before, you know, I blew up at her, dropped out of sight, then showed up to try to kill her."

"Everyone noticed a difference in her behavoir a couple of days after you two must have started hanging out," Raven said.

"Well, I will admit I did try to get her to be more daring," the blue-haired girl admitted. "I didn't mean to cause her any problems with anyone else, though."

"It's all water down the stream, Artemis."

"She's just so . . . accepting, easy going yet firm. Calm, wise . . . I just don't get it. And then there's how she treated me after she recovered from . . . my attack. She came and visited me while I was in that cell here, and . . . forgave me for what I'd done. She said that true friends can forgive each other anything, and that my behavior was understandable. She admitted to not knowing all of the details about what I'd gone through, but that it didn't matter if I told her or not. Whatever I'd gone through had traumatized me, and something like that isn't easy to work through alone."

"You don't have to be alone. Not anymore."

"That's exactly what she said right before she teleported me to . . . to the place I'd been staying in Jump City."

"Shadow's pretty mature for her age, I'll agree."

"Why is that?" Artemis asked, then blushed and looked down at her lap. "Sorry."

"There's nothing to apologize for," Raven replied with a gentle smile. "It has to do with how Jinx and I raised her. Once she was old enough to start deciding things for herself, about four or five, we let her - within reason, of course. We gave her the freedom to make her own choices, and would help her understand the consequences of her choices. So she learned early on to consider her actions and what could happen from them. She also has the same powers as both her mom and I, so her training had to be balanced carefully."

"I think her powers are pretty cool."

"They are, but like me, her demonic powers are tied with her emotions; the stronger the emotion the less control she might have."

"Might?"

"When I was raised by the monks of Azarath, they feared the blood of Trigon that ran through my veins, and taught me to control my emotions in order to control my powers, so I wouldn't go out of control and end up being a demonic bitch from some hellish dimension. That was kind of a mistake, actually, since it ended up having some bad personal consequences for me. I killed someone who turned out to be working to help my father return to this dimension, and ended up hurting Jinx before I learned something that I passed on to Shadow."

"What was that?"

"Controlling your emotions doesn't mean you have to keep a tight rein on them. You can feel your emotions, however big or small, without letting them control you."

They fell silent for a moment, as Artemis considered everything she'd just been told and Raven waited patiently. After a while, something occured to the teen.

"Um, how was Shadow, you know . . ."

"Conceived?" Raven finished for her. Artemis just nodded, not looking at her.

"That's something Jinx and I weren't sure of for a few years after we learned I was pregnant."

"But you know now?"

"Oh, we've known for about ten years now."

"And you're not going to tell anyone," Artemis said with certainty. Raven nodded in agreement.

"We're more certain with each passing year, but it's still little more than a theory. I'm waiting until I know for sure before dropping this particular bombshell."

"That makes sense. So . . . where's Shadow?"

"She's probably on the rooftop meditating. That's usually been her place to go whenever she's needed to think, or to have some alone time."

"Wouldn't her room be better for that kind of thing?"

"Not really. While everyone does go up there for one reason or another every now and then, the roof's usually been the only place we could find real peace and quiet. Although everyone knows better than to enter her room - or mine and Jinx's, for that matter - without permission."

After her talk with Raven, Artemis made her way to the roof of Titan Tower. Not right away, of course; she still wanted to think about what she'd learned in that discussion. Raven had treated her as a younger, less experienced equal rather than a rookie novice, something that made her feel a lot more at home with the Titans. She did eventually make her way to roof, and as Raven had said, that's where she found Shadow. Rather than saying anything and possibly bothering her, she just walked over to her at the roof's edge and sat down silently. Minutes passed by with neither girl saying anything, and Artemis found that she found the silence soothing rather than irritating or boring.

"So how are you feeling?" she was startled to hear Shadow ask.

"Huh-wha?" she responded before her thoughts came back on track. "Oh, um, I guess about what you'd expect. Nervous, bored, excited, fearful."

"You? Fearful?" the pink/black-haired girl replied, surprised. It wasn't said in a condescending or sarcastic manner, either.

"Well, yeah. I mean, I've got a good bit riding on me. Not everyone trusts me like you do - well, except for your moms. Even though I'd like to think I've proven myself as a 'good guy' by now, after being a hero for a week now, your friends seem to be expecting me to do something bad."

"Nightfire trusts you."

"She likes to see the good in everyone, and I guess there's a little in me."

"More than a little, I think."

"Why do you say that, Shad?"

"Well, if there was only a little good in you, you wouldn't have become my friend, you wouldn't have turned yourself in after realizing that you'd nearly killed the only friend you've had in years, and you wouldn't have wanted to become a Teen Titan and help others after I'd gotten you out of your cell," Shadow pointed out. She opened her eyes and looked over at her friend. "I know Nightfire can seem kind of flighty and a little airheaded, but she's got an instinctive feeling about a person's trustworthiness. She told me a couple of days ago that you were someone she'd trust her life with without question."

"Really? She said that?" Artemis asked, very surprised.

"She really did." Shadow sighed. "The only reason Phase doesn't like you is because he sees you as the reason he and I broke up."

"I thought that might have been what he was thinking. But I can tell from your words that that isn't the truth."

"It isn't," she agreed. "I just . . . I don't know . . . feel it, I guess. I mean, he is cute and all, but there just wasn't a spark there, you know?"

"Well, not really. I've never been close enough to anyone to know anything about that. Except for my mom, but that's to be expected. By the time I would've been old enough to do the whole crushing and dating thing, I'd already been tortured and warped by the Joker, beat him so bad he's _still_ in a coma that he'll probably be in until old age does him in, and ran away to Jump City where I ended up meeting my first friend."

"No, really, don't hold back," Shadow said dryly, causing them both to laugh. After a few minutes, they calmed down and fell into another easy silence, which Shadow herself broke a few moments later.

"I can understand the whole pressure deal," she said. "I mean, I was picked to be the leader of the team before we ran into you at that bank robbery, and just this morning it was made official. I know it was my own fault, but now everyone's relying on me to come up with a plan that will not only stop those aliens from doing whatever it is they've come to do, but to do so in a way that doesn't get Jump City destroyed."

"That _is_ a lot pressure," Artemis conceded. At her friend's sigh, she added, "But the right person for the job is already on the job."

"You can't mean me."

"That's exactly what I mean. You called the play. I'm sure heroes all over the world are trying to think of a way to stop them that won't invite destruction to Earth's cities, but none of them are you."

"What makes you think I'm any better than them?"

"Because you've got what it takes to win. And I don't just mean your unique powers; you've spent this whole time meditating on how to do the impossible task before us, and you've got people backing you up who are willing to follow you into what could very possibly be certain death." Artemis paused for a moment, hesitating, then decided to go ahead. "While this is a very important task for you to accomplish, I don't think it's that 'one' thing you're meant to do, that one 'quest' or whatever that you were born to do."

"You mean you don't think this is my destiny?"

"Not at all. I don't think it's a coincidence that this happened right when it did, and I see it as a large step to who you're going to be."

"That's . . . pretty deep and mystical for you," Shadow pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," Artemis admitted. "I'm just as surprised as you are, too."

"So what made you want to say all of that? And at this time?"

"I dunno. It . . . it just seemed like the time to do it. Plus, I'd talked to Raven earlier and she gave me a lot to think about."

"Yeah, mama does that a lot," she agreed. She was about to say something else when a thought occured to her. And the more she thought about that thought, the more several things started coming together in her head.

"Shadow? You okay?"

"I think I've got it," she said softly.

They hurried down to the common room and called everyone together. Shadow had a confident, assured air about her that immediately drew everyone's attention. Once they'd all sat down or settled somewhere, she closed her eyes, took a breath, and opened them again.

"I think I've got a plan to stop these aliens," she told them. "Their leader said that they were here to accomplish a 'great task' and that they would punish the cities of those who tried to stop them. What we're missing . . . is _what_ they're after. That is something that would be useful to know, but it isn't the key to stopping them."

"If knowing what they're after isn't important, then what is?" Stinger asked. The adults were staying silent; all of them sensed that this was something the new Teen Titans had to do.

"The way, the tone, of his speech," she replied. "His leader gave him a task that is, extrapolating from context, vitally important to their whole empire, their whole race. His announcement was made from a position of strength and confidence. He believes that no one would dare oppose him for fear of causing the deaths of innocent people. Because that is what he expects, actually opposing him would throw him off somewhat. Not much, and not enough to prevent him from destroying a city before he can be stopped."

"But you know how to stop him?" Nightfire wondered.

"Absolutely. We detonate whatever power source his ship has."

"That could do his work for him," Phase pointed out. Stinger agreed. "Whatever he's got powering that ship of his, it's gotta contain enough energy to catapult him across who knows how many lightyears," the tech-minded teen said. "An uncontrolled release of such energy would have devastating effects."

"I know," Shadow admitted. "That's where we all come in. After we've made to wherever that reactor is, Phase will go through the door and unlock it from the inside-"

"And how am I supposed to do that?"

"By using some kind of energy disrupter that Stinger will make."

"Make a device to disrupt the electrical energy of unknown type?" He grinned. "I'll get on it right away."

"Okay, good. Nightfire, Vulcan, and Shift will then hold the doorway against any aliens that try to stop us while Stinger, Phase, and Atremis work on overloading the reactor. I'll be providing them cover in case the reactor space has defensive countermeasures."

"How am I supposed to help two video game geeks disable an alien power generator?" the blue-haired girl asked.

"You can control temperature."

"Only my own, really, though I can control the ambient temperature of the area immediately around me."

"Exactly. You can stand as close as is possible to the core, and increase or decrease its temperature to help it reach whichever extreme is its critical point."

"So how do we get out of there, and back out again?"

"I'm guessing they've been scanning the planet for whatever it is that they're looking for, since they haven't come any lower or launched any kind of shuttles or whatever. Getting there might be difficult, if not impossible, but I can try to sense the energy of their power core and teleport us as close to it as I can. Getting out will be done in reverse; since I'm most familiar with the Tower's roof, I'll teleport us there once we've accomplished our mission."

"So how do you plan on stopping the reactor from blowing up completely and destroying a city or two?" Vulcan asked.

"I'll teleport back and through up a barrier to try to contain the energy," Shadow said.

"That could kill you!" Nightfire gasped, covering her mouth in shock.

"It could," she admitted.

"I'll be going back with her, too," Artemis said, standing up. Even Shadow was surprised by that. "It make sense; Shadow said that my powers were critical to helping overload the reactor's energy core or whatever, so I think my powers would also be essential to controlling the explosive reaction when the core's energy begins cascading."

Shadow opened her mouth to object, closed it as she thought about it, then nodded. "She's got a point," she said.

"And looks like you guys have a plan," Nightwing said, standing up. "Alright, Shadow, you know what you've got to say."

"Yeah," she agreed with a grin. "Titans Go!"

**Author's Note:** And that's the end of the chapter. Looking back over it, I was surprised to see it is about as long as my two-part chapters. Wow. I probably could've done this chapter the same way, or even divided it up into two chapters, but until that last sentence, I never felt like I had reached the stopping point. I am very surprised and impressed with the events of this chapter; the Artemis/Raven and Artemis/Shadow discussions were, I felt, key points to this chapter, as they offered insights into both Artemis and Shadow (and Raven to a lesser extent). I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter, and remember: you read it, you review it.

Please.

**Author's Note 2:** Disclaimer 2 was added to this chapter because I forgot to add it to the previous chapter.


	12. Chapter 12

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M. I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself. The character of Shift is the property of DantesClover, and was created specifically for this story. The character of Vulcan is the property of Starbuck Viper, and was also created specifically for this story.

**Author's Note:** I'm glad you guys are really liking this story. It's a lot of fun to write this. I would appreciate some reviews from those of you reading this, since it does take time and effort to keep you fanfic mongers fed. And I know it's been a while since I updated, but think about this before you complain: To keep the same level of quality you've seen to date, time and effort must be put into it; fast updates may mean poor writing. That said, I won't deliberately take my time every time, but I hope y'all will have patience in waiting for the updates to come.

**Titans Forever**

**Chapter 11 - The Legend Begins**

The Teen Titans - Shadow, Nightfire, Phase, Stinger, Artemis, Vulcan, and Shift - were gathered together on the roof of Titan Tower. Cyborg, Nightwing, and Changling were in the common room monitoring the oodanga starship while everyone else was on the roof to see the next generation of heroes off.

"Remember, Shadow, it's about focus and concentration," Raven reminded her daughter.

"Got it, mama," she replied, with only a little exasperation.

"I won't say to be careful," Jinx added, "since you're my daughter as well, so just kick ass and come back. Or I'll go and kick _your_ ass."

"Alright, mom."

"And that goes for _all_ of you," the pink-haired woman added, glaring at the seven teens.

"Yes, ma'am," everyone chorused together.

"I wish you all the best of luck," Starfire told them, hugging all of them gently - for her, anyway.

"No time to waste, y'all, so get movin'," Bumblebee added.

"Alright," Shadow said, looking at her team. "I'll need everyone to stand as close as they can, since I don't know how big I'll be able to make the teleportation portal."

As everyone clustered around her, Shadow felt someone grab and squeeze her hand. She couldn't really tell who it was, though by the feel it was one of the girls' hands. Still, she appreciated the small comfort and the confidence boost it gave her. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and let it out. Clearing her mind, she began chanting the meditative phrase her mama had taught her: "Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos. Azarath Metrion Zinthos." As she chanted, a swirl of black energy shot through with pink bolts that were constantly moving appeared around the teens' feet. It expanded until it surrounded all of them, then rose up to shroud the Teen Titans within its darkness. When it vanished from the roof of Titan Tower, so had the seven teens.

. . . Who reappeared moments later within a large space aboard the oodanga starship. Everyone opened their eyes and blinked, surprised that the teleportation had actually gotten them aboard the ship. "I'm guessing this must be a hold of some kind," Stinger said, breaking the momentary silence.

"You think?" Phase asked dryly.

"You think somebody's spotted us?" Vulcan asked.

"You know, I still can't get over your name," he said.

"What's wrong with my name?"

"Well, it's . . . a boy's name."

"Are you saying I'm a boy?"

"No, no, just that-"

"Zip it, you two," Shadow said. "We've gotta get a move on to that reactor."

"Any ideas where to go?" Artemis asked.

"Stinger?"

"I'm on it," he replied, looking at the readout on his gauntlet's left arm. While Shadow had been on the roof meditating, Stinger had stopped working on the Titans' vehicles with his father and used the time to create and build a high-tech partial battle suit. All it consisted of was a front and back upper torso plate, forearm-length gauntlets, and knee-high boots with armored knee pads. There was also a harness system connecting everything to the powerpack on the torso piece's back. He'd built the gauntlets to function like his father's arm did, but incorporate the sonic cannon as a series of micro-emitters located around the cuff of the glove. Right now, he was using the scanners incorporated into the left gauntlet to trace the alien ship's power output to accurately locate the reactor. After a couple of minutes, during which everyone else was looking around nervously expecting the aliens to drop in and attack, he said, "Alright, I've got it. But without schematics I can't say how we're gonna get there."

"As long as we have a direction," Shadow said. "The rest we can improvise."

"Can't you teleport us there?" Nightfire asked, although Shadow was shaking her head before she was finished speaking.

"Too close to it now," she answered. "If I was trying to sense a person's aura, or a meta-human's power, I could get us closer, so we do it the hard way. What direction, Stinger?"

"That way," he said, gesturing toward their left. "I can't tell how far, either. Too much interference, not enough info to overcome it."

"Alright, here's the marching order," Shadow said. "Stinger, you'll be on point. Shift, I want you to fuse up something and cover our butts. Nightfire, Vulcan, I want you behind Stinger to back him up. Phase, Artemis, I want you in front of Shift. I'll be in the middle so I can easily raise a shield or barrier to protect everyone."

They all walked in the direction Stinger had pointed to, all the while keeping an eye out for . . . someone, anyone. Though no one said anything, everyone was surprised there wasn't anyone coming to deal with them. It had everyone suspicious. After a minute or so, they came to the end of the hold - and it was a hold, if the strangely-shaped containers throughout the space were any indication - and found a door. Stinger moved forward to try and decipher the controls when the door _whooshed_ open. Standing there was one of the ape-looking oodanga, looking just as stunned to see them as they were to see it. Before it could raise an alarm, a fireball slammed into its chest and exploded, knocking it backwards.

"It should be knocked out, I think," Vulcan said, bringing her smoking fist to her mouth and blowing it.

"You do know that they might've picked up that fireball as an energy discharge, right?" Phase said from the back.

"Oops."

"Alright, everyone, let's move it," Shadow said. "We're on the clock here, even without Vulcan's blast." They ran down a corridor, Stinger's scanners showing an increase in the energy output the further in they went. They encountered no more aliens, which they thought was strange, until Phase triggered open a door that turned out to open into a barracks of some kind. A barracks that was filled with lots and lots of oodanga.

"Oh, shit," he said, stepping back. "Um, wrong door?" With a yelp, he jumped back - and caused the door to automatically close - when several of them pointed guns of some kind at him. Everyone heard the sounds of the energy bolts impacting against the door, and picked up their pace, racing to reach the ship's powerplant even faster now that the word on them was out. Shift laid down covering fire - she'd fused with a bunch of metal to form energy blasters of some kind - as Vulcan came back to help.

"Keep moving!" Shadow shouted, ducking under an energy bolt and sending a blast of energy down a side corridor and into an oodanga marine. "Stinger! How close are we?"

"It's on the other side of this bulkhead!" he shouted back.

"We don't have time to find a door!" Vulcan called out. "They're pressing harder!"

"Let me at it!" Artemis growled, running up to the 'wall.' Putting her hands on the corridor wall, she took a deep breath and let it out. Focusing her will, she began dropping the temperature of the wall as fast as she could. The metal didn't seem to be doing anything, until everyone realized that the metal was becoming darker and kind of washed out. As they watched, it seemed to accelerate until a good-sized portion of the wall became covered in frost. After what seemed like an eternity, but was only a few minutes, Artemis stepped back, breathing hard. "Oh . . . kay . . . " she breathed. "Some . . . body hit . . . it."

Stinger aimed his right arm and triggered the sonic emitter cannon in it, and the metal wall shattered like a dropped glass.

"Everybody in!" Shadow shouted, throwing up a wall of pink-striped black energy between her friends and the aliens. Everyone piled into the room . . . . . . and stopped.

"Whoa," Vulcan said.

"I think we found it," Nightfire agreed, staring at the massive floor-to-ceiling (and probably beyond) cylinder that dominated the space they found themselves in.

"Guys?" Shadow said. Everyone snapped out of their daze and, with sheepish looks, went about their tasks. Vulcan, Shift, and Nightfire searched the room for any entrances and found two; Nightfire and Shift posted at one and Vulcan sat at the other, just waiting for something to open it. Phase, Stinger, and Artemis found a bank of control stations and began trying to figure out how to overload the reactor. Shadow remained at the hole in the wall, keeping a shield up across it.

Phase reached through the panel and pulled some wires out through it; Stinger hooked his left gauntlet into the control panel by splicing his connectors into the wires. _I hope I can bypass this_, he thought, _or find some way to unlock it._

"Wouldn't be easier to push this button here?" Artemis, gesturing at a panel. Looking over, Stinger and Phase saw a big red button under some kind of translucent shield with funny-shaped peg holes on either side. "Um, yeah," Stinger replied lamely. The two boys walked over, and Phase asked, "So how do we open it?" Stinger rolled his eyes and blasted the cover off with his sonic blaster and pushed the button. Almost immediately, blue lights began pulsing throughout the chamber and a high-pitched alarm began wailing.

"Looks like you did it," Shadow said, walking up behind them. Artemis looked past her to see the oodanga security soldiers retreating down the corridor at a rather fast pace. "Now I do my thing as you get everyone out of here?" she asked. Shadow nodded. "Alright, then, get to it."

"Back to that hold, guys!" Shadow told the others. She hesitated a bit as everyone went past her. "I'll be back as quick as I can, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll be fine," Artemis assured her. Shadow smiled at her friend and left, though Artemis thought there was something different about that smile . . .

Shadow caught up to the rest of her friends just before the hold. When they all ran in there, they found Lord-Master Gishta and a bunch of heavily armed oodanga waiting for them.

"So you are the filthy inferior primates who _dared_ to come aboard my ship!" he roared at them. It looked like he was about to launch into a monologue, but Shadow said, "I don't have time for this." Summoning a portal, she sent a hex bolt through it as she dropped herself and her friends through a portal that opened back up on the roof of Titan Tower. Back on the alien ship, her Cris-Cross technique had all of the oodanga - including the 'high-and-mighty' Lord-Master Gishta - diving for cover, though several didn't make and were knocked all over the place by the hex bolts.

As soon as everyone dropped onto the tower's roof, Shadow concentrated on Artemis's active aura and teleported through another portal back into the reactor chamber. It was obvious, once she caught site of Artemis, that keeping the core's temperature somewhat stable was putting a tremendous strain on the blue-haired girl.

"I'm back, now let's get you out of here," Shadow said, stepping forward.

"Can't," Artemis grunted. "It's worse . . . than we had . . . anticipated. It's taking . . . all I've . . . got just to keep . . . it like it is . . . and it's still . . . increasing."

"We've got to get out of here, Artemis!" she insisted.

"If it's between me . . . and the city, I . . . choose the city," she replied. She looked over at Shadow, a determined expression on her face. "One life instead of many. Not a hard trade." Before the other girl could say anything, the ship's deck rumbled, shook, and tilted. The two looked at each other and guessed what it meant; the ship was boosting for space.

"You better . . . get outta here . . . Shad . . ." Artemis grunted.

"Not without you!" Shadow pleaded. Just then, a spark flickered within the blinking energy core. Before either of them could do anything, the core exploded, knocking them both through the hole in the bulkhead. Shadow's head hit the floor hard, almost knocking her out and leaving her in a daze. Artemis had her fall broken by Shadow - deliberately, she suspected. Standing up, she saw her friend's condition and knew that she wouldn't be able to get out of the ship on her own now. The explosion had also destroyed her efforts to stall a full reactor failure. Kneeling down next to her friend, Artemis managed to roll Shadow onto her back and carefully stood up, then made her way down the corridor. It wasn't easy, and the continuing explosions from the reactor didn't help much. She did manage to make it the hold, and laid Shadow down against what she (correctly) guessed was the hull's inner wall. Putting her hands against the wall, she concentrated as hard as she could, pouring every once of energy she possessed into the metal hull. Faster than the reactor chamber wall, the metal turned cold and brittle. Standing up, Artemis kicked the weakened patch several times before it shattered and the hold began decompressing.

"Artemis?" Shadow said, groaning as she tried to sit up.

"Sorry, Shadow," Artemis replied, picking her friend up. "But you deserve to live more than I do." Then she tossed Shadow out of the hole. She smiled as she heard the other girl begin cursing her before her voice faded away, then she turned and made her way back to the reactor chamber. She got as far as the hole into the chamber before she saw a bright blue, purple, and black flash . . . . . .

**Author's Note:** And that's it. Hope you enjoyed the adventure.


	13. Chapter 13

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M. I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself. The character of Shift is the property of DantesClover, and was created specifically for this story. The character of Vulcan is the property of Starbuck Viper, and was also created specifically for this story.

**Author's Note:** I'm glad you guys are really liking this story. It's a lot of fun to write this. I would appreciate some reviews from those of you reading this, since it does take time and effort to keep you fanfic mongers fed. And I know it's been a while since I updated, but think about this before you complain: To keep the same level of quality you've seen to date, time and effort must be put into it; fast updates may mean poor writing. That said, I won't deliberately take my time every time, but I hope y'all will have patience in waiting for the updates to come.

**Titans Forever**

**Epilogue - A Mystery Revealed**

Shadow was still in a daze when Artemis had thrown her from the ship. But the wind rushing past her face with increasing speed snapped her back. Halting her fall through the air was instinctive; heading back to the ship to rescue Artemis was, to her, the natural thing to do since they were friends. She had just covered half the distance to ship she'd fallen when it exploded. _Oh, shit_, she had time to think before the explosion's blast buffeted her and the shockwave _slammed_ her backwards. This time, though, she went beyond dazed into unconsciousness. She was unaware of falling through the sky again, unaware of the debris falling around and with her, and unaware of her mama, Raven, teleporting below her to catch her.

It was late the next day, almost twenty-four hours later, when Shadow regained consciousness. Her mom was there, sitting next to her bed in the tower's infirmary, and slowly smiled when she saw that her daughter was awake. Jinx preempted her questions by telling her everything that had happened. About how Raven had rescued her and brought her straight back to Titan Tower. About how nearly everyone had searched the area for any trace of Artemis - but couldn't find anything. It was the news about Artemis that seemed to pull her back down to the bed, rather than the exhaustion she was still feeling. That's how it seemed to Jinx, anyway. Sensing her daughter's need to be alone (she didn't need her wife's empathy to do so), she told her that everyone would be glad she was awake and left the infirmary. Shadow just rolled onto her side and stared at the wall.

A couple of days later Cyborg cleared Shadow and let her out of the infirmary. She headed into the common room, and of course found most her of friends and family in there. Smiling, though it was tinged with more than a little sorrow, she talked with everyone and generally tried to act like her old self (though of course she fooled no one). Everyone could tell that her heart just wasn't into it, so no one was surprised when she headed up to the roof to meditate. Once on the roof, Shadow didn't go to her usual spot, but instead went to the edge that was closest to where the oodanga starship had been. And she levitated there, not really meditating but thinking about those last few moments onboard the alien ship. Artemis's last words rang through her head still, refusing to be banished to memory. _"You deserve to live more than I do."_ A tear began its solitary journey down her cheek. It was followed by another down the other cheek, and soon she was silently crying. _Artemis didn't deserve to die_, she thought. _I know there was nothing I could have done, but I _know_ that if I hadn't been hurt I could have gotten us both out of there._ She knew all about survivor's guilt and all of the emotional issues associated with it; her mama had felt the same way when Terra, her first love, had died. In fact, the more Shadow thought about it, the more she saw the similarities between the two situations. _But I don't love Artemis_, she told herself. _I don't know if I like girls that way or not, anyway. Besides, I haven't really known her all that long. She said I was her best friend, and I know she was at least a very good friend for me._ She let out a sigh and shook her head; everything was so confused for her right now. _I know she didn't escape that ship before it exploded. So why do I get the feeling that something's just beginning?_

_Far away, much closer to the galactic core than Earth and its Solar System were, there was a world remarkably like Earth in some respects. It had a similar sun, it supported life that was remarkably similar to Earth's, and its dominant sentient race was eerily similar to humans, though their ears were pointed and they had a far more diverse range of skin colors than humans did. They called themselves the Fanari, and they were a peace-oriented, technologically advanced people. Though possessing a well-trained, well-equipped military, the Fanari kept it as a defensive force. The capital city of Aideplo had been built upon a site that was sacred and historically important to the Fanari. The main military headquarters, and the government buildings, were built around a circular commons that was directly over the ancient site. In the military HQ, Captain Stelgon Cavo'li of House Cavo walked into the office of General Kresh Valyr'ka of House Valyr._

_"Sir, I apologize for the interruption, but I've got something you should see," Stelgon said to him._

_"There is no need for apologies, Captain, if the situation warrants such haste," Kresh told him easily._

_"It does, sir. The galactic monitoring array above the apogee ecliptic has detected a powerful burst of strayon and emyrae particles." _That_ caught the general's attention._

_"Are you absolutely certain?" he asked quietly._

_"I had the data checked seven times before bringing it to you, sir," Stelgon said. "I could not believe it myself."_

_"Then it's happening," Kresh murmured. "Our people's vigilance has been validated."_

_"Yes, sir."_

_"Then we know what must be done."_

_"We await the order, sir."_

_"Follow the protocol for this event. Inform the Council and the Order. I will have the ship readied for departure by the time everything is finished."_

_"You are certain of my role in all of this, sir?" Stelgon replied, apprehension filling his voice._

_"I am more sure of it than I am of my recall of my bloodline."_

_"But you can recall your ancestors back to the founding of Aideplo."_

_"Precisely. Your role in what is about to occur has been certain for five thousand years."_

**Author's Note:** Surprise! It looks like things aren't over for the new Teen Titans. I intended this chapter to be longer than it turned out to be, but I felt this was a good ending point so there you go. And I'm sure that by now those of you reading this suspect that this epilogue won't be the last.


	14. Chapter 14

**DISCLAIMER:** I do not own Teen Titans or its characters, TV show or otherwise. This story is for entertainment purposes only. It will take place within the universe of the TV series (though within the alternate universe I established with **Raven's Story** and **Nothing Is Harder Than Love**), and be after the end of said series as well as the movie Trouble in Tokyo. If you don't like yuri, don't read any further. If you don't like Teen Titans, then I have no idea how you found this story in the first place. Rated M. I do not own the character named Artemis; she is a creation of Echo of an Idiot. He has given me permission to use her in this story, though I have re-imagined her for this purpose. I do, however, own the characters Shadow (daughter of Raven and Jinx), Phase (son of Changling and Lavender), Stinger (son of Cyborg and Bumblebee), Nightfire (daughter of Nightwing and Starfire), and Lavender herself. The character of Shift is the property of DantesClover, and was created specifically for this story. The character of Vulcan is the property of Starbuck Viper, and was also created specifically for this story.

**Author's Note:** I'm glad you guys are really liking this story. It's a lot of fun to write this. I would appreciate some reviews from those of you reading this, since it does take time and effort to keep you fanfic mongers fed. And I know it's been a while since I updated, but think about this before you complain: To keep the same level of quality you've seen to date, time and effort must be put into it; fast updates may mean poor writing. That said, I won't deliberately take my time every time, but I hope y'all will have patience in waiting for the updates to come.

**Titans Forever**

**Epilogue - The Book of Artemis**

During the next month, things were actually relatively quiet for the Teen Titans. Dust Storm and Taser broke out of prison and not only tried to rob a bank again, but the same bank as before. They were caught after a good battle that, surprisingly, resulted in almost no property damage. When one of their parents' old foes returned, they decided to come out of retirement and the New Titans returned. Those who had witnessed the battles between the H.I.V.E. Five - and a new H.I.V.E.-affiliated team of teens calling themselves H.I.V.E. Squad - had the surprise of witnessing the New Titans fighting alongside the Teen Titans; two generations of heroes and villains fighting against each other. The two Titan teams were successful, though there was a good bit of damage done to a construction site and a small part of downtown Jump City. Shadow proved to be an able leader, though she was nowhere near as uptight as Nightwing had been during the days of the original Teen Titans.

And the relationships amongst the Teen Titans began changing, as well. Much to everyone's surprise, Phase and Shift began pursuing a relationship, though both would always insist that nothing was going on and they were just friends. Honestly, everyone had expected Shift and Stinger to hook up, but Stinger actually asked Nightfire out. Vulcan was actually relieved that no one had tried getting her into a relationship; as she put it, "There's no one here that tickles my fancy, so I'm glad I didn't have to disappoint anyone." Shadow didn't begrudge her friends their happiness; in fact, it helped to make her feel better about Artemis's disappearance. She didn't believe her friend was dead, and that strange feeling she'd had up on the roof hadn't gone away; it just grew stronger as time went by. She couldn't articulate it well to her friends, though her moms seemed to understand.

Just over a month after the destruction of the oodanga warship, one of Cyborg's newly launched space observation satellites picked up an energy burst outside the orbit of Mars that was similar to the same one that the oodanga ship had, but was different enough to indicate either a different kind of ship - or a different race with similar technology. When the ship came close enough to be seen on the satellite's sensors, it was obvious that it wasn't an oodanga craft. Lord-Master Gishta's warship was bulky in shape and aggressive in design. This craft was sleek, aerodynamic, and almost organic in appearance; and it looked non-threatening, although looks could be deceiving.

Everyone was at the tower relaxing in different ways when this alien ship achieved orbit - and broadcast a transmission straight to Titan Tower. _That_ brought everyone into the common room. Nightwing activated the comm, and to everyone's surprise a very human-like being appeared on the massive monitor-television screen.

"_I bring greetings to the Teen Titans and New Titans from the Fanari Protectorate,"_ the alien said. _"I am Captain Stelgon Cavo'li of House Cavo."_

"Um, greetings, Captain," Nightwing said. "Why are you here?"

"_Your words are expected, considering what occured thirty of your days ago,"_ Stelgon responded. _"I assure you, though, that we have a mutual foe in the Oodanga Empire."_

"They have attacked your people, too?" Shadow asked, drawing the captain's attention. And his expression surprised everyone; it was one of shock, amazement, and awe.

"_Yes, they have, Lady Shadow,"_ he replied. _"Once in my people's distant past, and now. An oodanga armada was spotted on the Fanari System's outer reaches before my vessel began its transit to your world."_

"How do you know my name?" she asked. "And why did you call me 'Lady Shadow?'"

"_More than that is known, Lady Shadow,"_ he told her. _"And the tale is not mine to tell."_

"Well, you are obviously different than that Gishta character," Changling put in.

"_Thank you, Changling,"_ Stelgon acknowledged. _"And to answer your question, Nightwing, I am here to convey both the Teen Titans and the New Titans to Fanar."_

"But why? Why come all this way just to get us?" Shadow asked him.

"_Because it was written that I would do so."_

"Written? In what?" Raven asked, her tone saying that she suspected what his answer would be.

"_It was written in the Book of Artemis,"_ Stelgon replied.

"The book of _who_?" Shadow blurted out, shock written all over not just her face but everyone else's, too.

"_The Book of Artemis,"_ he repeated. _"It was written five thousand years ago by the Lady Artemis. It tells about the days when Fanar was oppressed by the Oodanga Empire, it's liberation . . . and the events occuring now. So to protect our people now, the Fanari Protectorate needs the help of the Titans."_

"We have to go," Shadow said, looking at the others.

"Don't you think it's a stretch to assume that this 'Lady Artemis' is your friend?" Lavender asked. "I mean, she was caught in that oodanga ship when it exploded. How could she have survived."

"Perhaps the core's final explosion opened up some kind of temporal rift," Cyborg suggested. "Something similar happened to me back in my Teen Titan days."

"I agree with Shadow," Raven and Jinx said in unison, looking at each other in surprise. Nightwing rubbed his chin in thought for a moment before nodding.

"We're going to Fanar," he said with finality.

_To Be Continued . . ._

**Author's Note:** And _that's_ the official end of Titans Forever. And, yes, as given by this chapter, there _will_ be a sequel to Titans Forever.


End file.
